23 February 2009

Clubs open multiple bank accounts


I was looking at photos of the Nepal Bank "A" Division Junior League on Nepal Sports Photo website and saw that all clubs participating in the tournament have the tournament sponsors' name written in Nepali on their jerseys. I also noticed that none of the clubs participating in the tournament bothered to put their club's logo on the shirts.

To take the second point first - it's a little disappointing that clubs (and even the national team for that matter) continue to not be concerned about details such as their club badge. Certainly, an argument can be made that a simple logo only ads an expense and offers little value to cash strapped clubs in Kathmandu Valley. That however is a very short sighted view. An identity (Brand) is not developed overnight. It takes time, but it has the power to create many long term benefits.

On the first point, I was a bit perplexed about the Nepal Bank ads on all the club jerseys though. I understand that Nepal Bank bought uniform sets for all the participating clubs, but most clubs have their own sponsors and some even carry the name of the sponsor in the official club name (e.g. Sankata "Kathmandu Mall" Club). Thus one would assume the clubs would be quite hesitant to wear the shirt with the name of a rival sponsor on them. This is especially true for Nabil Three Star Club and NIBL Friends Club whose main sponsor are prominent Nepali banks. I wonder how Nabil Bank officials must feel seeing Three Star Club wearing shirts that say "Nepal Bank Limited" (see picture above) on them?