Hollywoodbets announced SAFA regional league sponsor

With SAB opting against extending the partnership for the fourth division of South African football in 2019, the betting company saw a gap. The season kicks off next month with a total of 18 teams broken into two streams per province. Hollywoodbets’ senior soccer sponsorship coordinator Indira Albuquerque expands on their involvement.

 "It was a conversation that had been stretched for over a year and a half. When we get involved in such big projects there is a lot that we need to take into consideration - finance being one of them, budgets - basically what are we trying to achieve”, she told the media.

“And development in the country, men and women. Obviously, women are a lot less looked into, but we mustn't also shy away from the fact that development for men's football is also needed currently," said Albuquerque. 

Part of the idea, Albuquerque states further, is to help uplift the community through grassroots football. 

"For this particular project, because it's stretched out to a lot of communities, and because we're so enriched with community upliftment, it was just deciding for us to get involved with a development structure that is stretched out nationally.

"We know that with some of the regional league games that I've been to, there are centralised venues where you'll find more than five, or six teams playing in one venue. And you'll see that around the outskirts of the field, you have small vendors. [And so] essentially it's also uplifting the communities that way." 

In the lead-up to this press conference, there were rumours that Hollywoodbets, the Super League's principal sponsor, would be announcing a new venture to professionalise women’s football in the country. It wasn’t to be, but Albuquerque says this is not to undermine the progress made by Banyana Banyana following their heroics at the FIFA World Cup. 

And urged more companies to get involved in elevating the women’s game – the responsibility that has so far been carried by Hollywoodbets and SASOL.