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Kotoko-tiGO seal deal
By David Kyei
Posted: Saturday 24th May 2008
The long awaited ground-breaking sponsorship arrangement between Kotoko and mobile telephony providers, tiGO, was finally sealed at an impressive ceremony at the Golden Tulip Kumasi city on Saturday, 24th May 2008.
Present at the impressive ceremony were people from all departments of the Kotoko fraternity, i.e. management, circles and the administrative staff. Also present were Alhaji Abdul Karim Grunsah, founder and owner of King Faisal F/C, and Isaac Tettey (T.T Brothers) a director of rivals Hearts of Oak.
Addressing the function, Akyempenhene Oheneba Adusei-Poku, who represented the occupant of the Golden Stool, His Majesty, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, commended tiGO for taking a bold decision in an unprecedented sponsorship agreement between a corporate body and a football club in Ghana.
"I am so elated by the fact that we now have a sponsorship agreement that is too good to be true. But since it is here with us, let us celebrate it," he said.
"Before, anything, I will also like to charge management of Kotoko to see this sponsorship as a springboard for the hunting for other supporting sponsors who will assist the club in the breaking of new grounds in Ghanaian sponsorship history".
On his part, Chairman Asare Owusu assured the management of tiGO of his management and that of supporters' commitment to make the agreement a beneficial one for both sides.
"Whilst tiGO gives their all to Kotoko by this function today, I will like to assure them that they are going to see a massive switch of our teaming supporters on to their network".
"Much as we know that tiGO has the capacity to expand to meet an increasing in subscription, I will like them to be on a high alert because they are going to witness an unprecedented increase in their subscribers and as partners, we do not want them to be overwhelmed".
"Every partnership that Kotoko goes in has always been a win-win situation for the investor and I know that by the show of faith by tiGO, the story would not be any different"
Posted: Thursday 22nd May 2008
Run away league leaders, Asante Kotoko FC, have once again chatted another milestone in the history of corporate sponsorship of sports in general in Ghana.
First it was the ground breaking sponsorship agreement that was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars with SPACEFON, that later on metamorphosed into SPACEFON-AREEBA, to AREEBA and finally into MTN.
With the agreement expiring on the 21st May 2008, the management of Kotoko carefully weighed the options and sponsorship proposals from different quarters and finally settled with the mouth-watering offer by another mobile telephony service provider, tiGO, which is operated by Millicom Ghana Ltd.
tiGO beat the pack of proposals to sponsor Kotoko with a package that is worth a little over a million and a half euros per annum. Not all, Kotoko will be benefiting from other incentive packages that would be rolled out one at a time as the days go by.
Activities lined up to celebrate the signing of the agreements on Saturday, 24th May 2008 will start on Friday, 23rd May 2008: A brass band procession and float through the principal streets of Kumasi.
The float which will kick off will end up at the Golden Jubilee Park (Formerly Jackson's Park) in Kumasi with and all night musical concert by top Ghanaian musicians.
Golden Tulip Kumasi City (formerly City Hotel) will be the venue of legalities and corporate speeches as it will host the sponsorship agreement signing ceremony.
tiGO, which was previously known from names like Mobitel through to Starcall then Buzz and to their present name would be making yet another history with Kotoko.
The two establishments were the pioneers of corporate sponsorship agreements in the real sense as they were the first to sponsor Kotoko during the Hebert Mensah administration in the late 1990's with their Starcall brand.
Like a true love story, it is hoped that Kotoko going back to her first love/ sponsors will go well to pick the phrase, "...and they lived happily after"
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