Ravu clarifies Southern 9s cost

Sportz Events Limited has been running the Southern Nines over the last 15 years without a major sponsor despite accumulating overhead costs of more than K100,000 per tournament, according to director Ivan Ravu.
Ravu, said despite the Southern Nines being an expensive undertaking, they managed to stage the tournament every year since its inception.
Ravu said critics should consider the overhead costs involved before expressing their views.
He was responding to a call to increase the cup winner’s cash prize from K10,000 to K50,000.
“We did not stage the tourney for 20 years and even consolation prizes were presented,” Ravu said.
“Total prize monies are declared in the team managers’ manual which is distributed prior to the start of the tournament.
“The delay in the production of the manual is due to teams not submitting relevant information to the organisers well in advance.
According to the manual, K40,000 of the K60,000 collected from the 60 teams (K1000 per team registration) covers cash prizes for teams in the semi and preliminary finals in the cup division, and the preliminary finalists in the plate, bowl and pennant categories.
“All these details are outlined in the manual,” Ravu said.
“Hiring of the venues is not cheap.
“We hire the Oil Search National Football Stadium for K64,000 to stage the event there.
“This year, Bava Park cost just over K30,000.
“We employed over 70 people for various tasks — marshals, security, gate tellers, ticket tellers, referees, PA system hire and uniforms — so the cost mounts.
“At least two meetings are held before the start of the tournament and this is where team managers are given the opportunity to address any issues but over the years, no one has had any issue with this.
“We sponsorship from SVS this year to provide each of the 60 teams with a 10kg bag of rice and a box of noodles to supplement their meals. This may not be much but at least the teams receive something.”
“The tournament has been running for 15 years and not 20, so I suggest the writer should have done more investigations before making complaints as such.
“Some of the main objectives of the tournament include providing an opportunity to the youths from rural areas to showcase their skills and promoting leadership at the community level.
“The Southern Nines is self funded.”