The Zimbabwe Olympic Committee called for the private sector to play a bigger role in Zimbabwe's preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, the official The Herald reported on Friday.

Robert Mutsauki, the ZOC chief executive, said local companies should pour financial resources into Zimbabwe's preparations for the next Olympic Games in Beijing.

Mutsauki also revealed that ZOC have already appealed to a number of local companies to help them in moulding a very competitive Team Zimbabwe 2008 for the Beijing Games.

"We are very grateful of the appeal made by vice president Joice Mujuru for the support of Team Zimbabwe 2008. Actually, we started last year engaging the corporate sector and other stakeholders soliciting support for this team to cover not only participation but preparations for the Beijing Games," he said.

This initiative is being spearheaded by the Marketing and Public Relations Commission headed by Busi Chindove and working very closely with our technical committee headed by Austin Jeans," Mutsauki said.

"We are running out of time in terms of adequately preparing the team for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. We have managed to get substantial support from the International Olympic Committee who gave us six scholarships which will go a long way in helping our athletes in their preparations for the Games," he said.

"And we also recently received an approval of a US$80,000 grant from the IOC for the next All-Africa Games which for us is a stepping stone for the 2008 Olympic Games," he added.