Honor to fuel SA football passion

This was confirmed to SABC Sport by the cellphone company’s South African CEO, Fred Zhou, earlier this week, during the send-off function of Amajita to the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

The partnership between the Chinese company and the South African Football Association (SAFA) began this year, and Zhou explains how this competition will be handled.

"Consumers can buy any Honor phone from any one of our partners, and stand a chance to win a full-paid experience to Morocco, and watch Bafana Bafana live."

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Bafana Bafana’s excellent results over the past three years, including a strong performance at the last AFCON in the Ivory Coast, where they returned with a bronze medal in 2024, have since attracted more sponsors.

Zhou shares why it was vital for them to be involved with SAFA and Bafana.

"We believe that sport and technology share the same purpose, which is to break boundaries, and create something extraordinary.

"In South Africa, football is in everyone's DNA, so Bafana Bafana is a very suitable partner for us and our innovation technologies."

Travel packages for Bafana Bafana were in high demand at the last AFCON as the team continued to progress in the tournament, but there was no plan in place to make them happen.

The cellphone company recently had a group of 40 fans, including journalists, bused from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein to watch the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Nigeria.

With China and South Africa enjoying good political and international relations, Zhou says they are an extension of that partnership.

It’s not only Bafana Bafana who are benefiting from this deal, but the other national teams as well, including Amajita.

SABC Sport understands that this particular sponsor also paid for Amajita’s camps before they departed for the FIFA U20 World Cup, including their send-off function.

Zhou says it’s always important to put the players first in these kinds of relationships...