BY KWANELE TSABEDZE
MBABANE – The main sponsor for this year’s Under-20 (U20) COSAFA Championships, Inyatsi Construction Holding Group, has come out to thank the fans for a successful 10 days of spirited competition and fanfare.
The company made the statement thanking the fans and other stakeholders through their social media pages. This followed the conclusion of the games where the Zambian team, popularly known as Chipolopolo, won their 12th regional trophy after beating Mozambique 1-0 in the finals on Sunday.
“What a beautiful end to a beautiful tournament! Thank you for being with us for the past 10 days. Thank you to EFA, COSAFA, valued stakeholders, and most importantly, YOU, the fans. Thank you for showing up and showing out! Until next time… Let’s Kick In! (verbatim),” read the statement from Inyatsi.
Fans who commented on the statement congratulated the winning team, and commended Inyatsi for supporting sports in the country.
“Thank you Inyatsi Construction Group, please invest more in Local Football,” responded one user on the statement.
“Thank you Inyatsi for sponsoring this tournament. Africa as a whole has amazing U20 stars,” read another user’s comment on the social media statement.
Inyatsi Construction Group Holdings had sponsored the tournament to the tune of E2 million, in a bid to promote sports in the country and Africa as whole. Speaking during the announcement of the sponsorship earlier this month, Inyatsi Eswatini Managing Director Derrick Shiba said that they see their involvement as an opportunity to empower the youth in the African continent because football in particular is a popular sport.
“Through this tournament we hope we can unearth the future Kalusha Bwayla’s(Chipolopolo), Benedict McCarthy’s(Bafana), Jean-Mac Ithier’s (Club M), Lehlonoholo Seema’s (Lekwena Lekwena), Tico Tico Bucuane’s( Black Mambas) , Siza ‘King Pele’ Dlamini’s(Sihlangu Semnikati), Joseph Kamwendo’s(The Flames) , players who have shone brightly in yesteryears and some even went to play in Europe and put Africa as a whole on top of the international football map,” said the CEO.
The 28th installment of the international youth football tournament lasted from October 6, 2022 until October 16, 2022.
The 12 countries who participated in the tournament were, Eswatini (host), Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Malawi, Comoros, Angola, South Africa, Namibia, and Zambia – some of which are countries where Inyatsi Construction has a footprint.
The competition was also used as a qualifier for the U20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 games in Egypt. Other teams which qualified were South Africa and Angola.
Inyatsi Construction Group Holdings will make another statement on the COSAFA games this Friday.
