The local football governing body (Ferwafa) has said that they are in talks with different potential sponsors and a deal would be reached before the 2020/2021 season starts in September. In particular, Ferwafa’s Secretary General, Francois Regis Uwayezu, says that negotiations with Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA) for the TV rights, and Bralirwa as the league’s main sponsors, are at 60 percent. The 2019-20 Rwanda Premier League season, which ended last Friday with APR crowned champions for a record-extending 18th time, was without a sponsor after Tanzania pay TV giants Azam terminated their four-year partnership at the end of the previous season. “The talks are underway with different [prospected] sponsors, and they are promising – probably at 60 percent,” said Uwayezu, who, however, was quick to underscore that “nothing conclusive has been agreed upon yet.” Since ending their relationship with Ferwafa, Azam have since entered sponsorship deals with two top tier sides APR and SC Kiyovu as well as basketball league champions Patriots. “For certain, we will have a sponsor for next season. We want to have more than one partner so as to get a lasting solution to the constant financial problems every season.” Should Ferwafa and Bralirwa reach an agreement, it will not be the first time that the brewery company is the title sponsor of the league. Bralirwa, under their drink Primus, were the topflight league’s sponsors for a decade before stepping out in 2014. The league was then under the name Primus National Football League.
