ZESCO United Football Club Team Ya Ziko
Football is the biggest and one of the richest sports brands in the world. Once perceived as a social activity, the sport has over the years been transformed into a billion-dollar business.
The sport has since time immemorial been seen as the greatest escape route for many young people with unquestionable talent on the pitch but whose light in class couldn’t shine brightly or whose humble beginnings deprived them of such an opportunity.
The game has in the last decades made young people with poverty-stricken backgrounds become some of the richest and most powerful men in the world.
From Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo to Argentina’s Diego Amando Maradona, Lionel Messi to the Brazilian Neymar da Silva Santos and Ronaldo de Assis Moreira(Ronaldinho).
The classic-rags-to-riches story is well crafted in the dusty villages of Africa where the sport is largely viewed as a sure way out of poverty for many young gifted boys and their families.
Sadio Mane, Yaya Toure, Mo Salah, Samuel Etoo, and Didier Drogba are some of the players that have made a career and a great fortune out of the game.
However, the huge financial incentives currently associated with the game have presented new concerns to football administrators and corporate sponsors.
The trappings that often comes with fame have had detrimental effects on many footballers who have ended-up destitutes after retiring from the sport.
The lack of financial discipline to invest wisely has seen players who had shown so much on the pitch and became instant millionaires turn into beggars in retirement.
ZESCO United Football Club is one of the biggest and successful teams in Zambia and an emerging continental giant. The club is also one of the most professionally run institutions in Africa.
An employer of some of the finest and emerging talents on the continent, the club has in recent years made it a priority to expose the its players to financial literacy awareness.
ZESCO United management has taken advantage of its corporate partnership with Atlas Mara Bank to sensitize its players on the value of investing prudently for a better tomorrow.
The club management in conjunction with the bank recently held a financial literacy training targeting ZESCO United Football players and the technical staff in Ndola.
“As a sponsor of ZESCO United football club, we felt the need to facilitate a training dubbed Mentoring in Life Skills and Financial Literacy for the Management and Staff of ZESCO United. The team has also been mentored in financial literacy which now includes Mobile and Digital Banking of which Atlas Mara is a pioneer.
We want to ensure the players invest their money wisely so that they are insulated when their careers eventually come to an end,” disclosed Eric Ngondo, Atlas Mara Director Marketing, and Corporate Communications.
ZESCO United Football Club Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Richard Mulenga urged the players to invest wisely before retiring from the game.
“The lesson here is to prepare yourselves before retiring from the game. This means investing your resources wisely, especially in areas where your money will multiply. There are many players in the game who have made sound investments during their careers and there are those who have ended up desperately poor despite making a great fortune in their prime.
I can give you an example of former Manchester United player Garry Neville who has continued to enjoy life even after retiring from the sport. He started planning for his retirement while still playing for his club. He decided he wanted to go into football management, football commentary, and the restaurant industry. Neville prepared for all those three careers during the last three years of his playing career. Neville once went into football management as a coach unfortunately, his first attempt didn’t go well. Today he is a pundit for Sky Sports and has also invested in the restaurant business. That is a success story for us to learn from,” Mulenga said.
As a foreign player, Kenyan international striker Jesse Were knows the value of getting things done before hanging up his precious boots.
“It is very important to invest wisely and properly before retirement because there is life after football. I am currently making investments back home because I know I won’t be in the game forever. I have particularly invested heavily in the poultry and transport business.
The training was good for us all because it’s something that keeps you on your toes and also educates one about the reality of life. It really helped us understand how we could possibly plan for the future,” Were said.
Author: Desmond Katongo
