South African government sponsorship deal with Spur to be canceled after uproar

Tottenham Hotspur’s £42.5 million sponsorship deal with the South African government is to be cancelled after the agreement caused uproar in the country.

Spurs had provisionally agreed a three-year sponsorship deal that would have started next season and seen South Africa Tourism appear on the team’s shirt sleeve, training kit and media backdrops.

But the agreement provoked anger in South Africa, where the country’s president Cyril Ramaphosa is considering declaring a state of disaster due to record power cuts and worsening poverty.

The South African parliament’s tourism committee have insisted the deal cannot go ahead, with chairperson Tandi Mahambehlala saying: “This deal, it ends here, today, now, because there is everything wrong about the deal itself. There must be an investigation on this matter with immediate effect.”

The president’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said last week Ramaphosa “did not think spending so much money in the manner that is being suggested will be justified.”

The political party, Democratic Alliance, called the deal an “insult” and a “slap in the face” for South African people. “The money should rather be spent locally to improve our tourism sector so that it can thrive, create jobs and in turn contribute to the much-needed growth of our economy,” Democratic Alliance said in a statement.

South Africa Tourism board members had previously raised concerns about the risk of Tottenham being relegated during the contract, which would have expired in 2027.

For Spurs, the deal would have been an improvement on the £10 million the club earns per season from their current sleeve sponsor, Cinch, the online car dealer.