SA Rugby this week entered what it called a ground-breaking new partnership with OMO, the global leader in fabric care, as part of a contract renewal with Unilever.
“The well-known household brand becomes the first in its category to join the Springboks and all national teams as part of OMO’s campaign to champion resilience, perseverance, and the belief that every challenge — every “stain” — is an opportunity from which to grow,” SA Rugby said in a statement.
“The partnership was unveiled at an action-packed event at the Inanda Club in Sandton on Thursday where sports stars, media, and influencers ‘got down and dirty’ in a series of fun sporting activities.”
If that is as close as the country gets to “sports washing”, then Oddballs is happy for this sponsorship to rise and repeat.
Oh, no, Onana, not again
If the English Premier League head honchos were to decide to award a best butterfingers accolade, Andre Onana will be a runaway contender. The Cameroon international is hands on with his howlers. He delivered his latest instalment of goalkeeping clownery in the Europa League quarterfinal clash against Lyon, when he showed amateurish flamboyance in fumbling a free kick for the French side’s first goal, parrying the ball in the path of an attacker for the equaliser. This latest blot in the gloveman’s copybook contributes to Ruben Amorim’s circus-like season at the Theatre of Nightmares, aka Old Trafford. If Indomitable Lion Onana does not shape up, he may find himself shipping out faster than you can say clown.
Missed medals
In a big change for Olympic swimming, the 50m backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly events are being added to the programme for Los Angeles 2028. South Africa has missed out on medals in these events in previous years — Penny Heyns in the 50m breaststroke in 1996 and 2000, Roland Schoeman in the 50m butterfly in 2004, and Cameron van der Burgh in the 50m breaststroke in London and Rio. Pieter Coetzé can try to shoot for three medals in the US in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke.
Interest-free pools
The 2025 national swimming championships kicked off in Gqeberha this week with not a single journalist covering the event. That’s the interest level of this country’s media bosses in a sport that has won the most Olympic medals since readmission, more than even athletics. Oddballs will wager that there’ll be more scribes at the national athletics championships in Potchefstroom later this month. Go figure.
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