Gilport Lions coy on Zakhem deal
Kabelo Boranabi | Thursday September 22, 2016 14:40
The news were confirmed by club chairperson, Kelesitse Gilika yesterday. Gilika said the move is a primary step to lure Zakhem as an investor to the club. “This is a long process which entails a lot of things.
As of now we have signed a MoA, which is the first step to bring Zakhem on board,” he said. Gilika however said the process will drag on for long, as there are lots of aspects to assess before signing on the agreed partnership.
“As you may recall that he (Zakhem) has been involved with GU. Before we can move forward we have to know if this is in compliance with FIFA and the Registrar of Societies. As for him, he will be able to assess the business as a whole. He will look at things like our performance on the financial side amongst other things,” he said.
However, Gilika did not go into details on how much stake they would offer Zakhem if the deal becomes successful.
“I cannot go into details because those are private matters. As of now, I can only reveal the information that the public has the right to, but not those that are private matters of a private entity,” he said.
Zakhem left Gaborone United (GU) earlier this year, and it was reported that he returned to the club as a sponsor but the sum was not disclosed. His company, Zac Construction is the major sponsor of Dynamites Volleyball Club. The Lebanese-born construction mogul has worked with Gilika before.
They worked during Gilika’s time as the GU chairman and he (Gilika) feels that Zakhem is helping move the club forward. He however stated they are not shutting the door for more investors. “We have been good friends for some time now. He has been involved in the football business so he is the type of person we need.
We are not shutting the door on more investors, as we have also held talks with a Francistown consortium before,” he said. Meanwhile, Gilika said they are targeting a top four finish this season after finishing 10th in their maiden campaign. “We had targeted a top eight finish last year but due lack of preparation we ended up in the 10th spot. This season we will not take anything below a top four finish. We have long finished our recruitment leaving the coach with enough time to prepare.
Looking at what we have, we can even challenge for the league honours,” he said. Lions have roped in former Police XI coach, Clever Hunda who will be in charge of the development team that is set to be launched by the end of October. The team has been in fine form in the off-season, winning almost all the pre-season tournaments they participated in. They kick-start the new season against the champions on October 7.