Adidas in pole position to replace Le Coq Sportif as Bafana and Banyana kit sponsors

Without giving anything away, South African Football Association (SAFA) CEO Lydia Monyepao revealed that the name of their new kit sponsor will soon be presented to the organisation’s National Executive Committee (NEC) for endorsement.

SABC Sport has previously reported that Adidas were up against Nike and Puma, Macron and Kappa, in the fight to be the new SAFA technical sponsors.

"This is a process we started over a year ago, when we knew that the Le Coq Sportif sponsorship was going to come to an end. It's just a matter of announcing now, as we are waiting for the National Executive Committee to endorse our new sponsors."

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Le Coq Sportif’s contract with SAFA expires on the 31st of December this year, and the new sponsors’ contract will start from the first of January next year.

Adidas, who are believed to have impressed with their presentations, were SAFA kit sponsors from 1998 until 2011.

It’s been two years since SAFA signed up Shield as a Banyana Banyana sponsor, and they have now added Bafana Bafana to this sponsorship. Monyepao says this comes at the right time when all the national teams are headed for big tournaments.

"We have been looking for brands like Shield and Vaseline to come on board to back our junior and senior National teams, because we look to the corporate space to fund various national team programmes."

Monyepao says these new sponsors are relieving the pressure off SAFA, with so many unfunded programmes that require money for camps and international matches.

Amajita are off to the FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile this coming week, and Amajimbos are going to the FIFA U17 World Cup in November.

The new sponsors were announced on the same day that Bafana Bafana moved up one spot in the FIFA world rankings to the 55th position and ninth on the continent. Shield Brand Manager Gareth Marshall admits that the impressive results of coach Hugo Broos’ team and prospects of qualifying for the World Cup are attractive to them as sponsors.