No advance ticket sales
In a dramatic twist to the agreed advance entry ticket sales for Saturday’s Carlsberg Cup final match between Big Bullets and Mighty Be Forward Wanderers, stakeholders on Wednesday decided against the arrangement.
Initially, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) had planned to roll out the pre-sale exercise on Wednesday.
But following a meeting held at the match venue, Civo Stadium in Lilongwe, the stakeholders, including the tournament’s organising committee, the two teams, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) and stadium management, it was agreed that the tickets should be sold on the day of the match.
This was after the two teams expressed fears that going ahead with the advance ticket sales arrangement would lead to some unscrupulous people producing counterfeit tickets.
“Another concern was that, experience has shown that more money is made when tickets are sold on the actual day of the match other than the advance exercise. We, therefore, believe selling the tickets during the actual match will generate more revenue,” said Big Bullets first vice-chairperson Austin Kasito.
On his part, Wanderers vice-general secretary Christopher Kananji said: “There were a lot of irregularities and we are glad that FAM has bowed to reason.”
FAM competitions manager Gomezgani Zakazaka confirmed the development through a press statement released later on.
“Following a meeting held today at Civo Stadium, we would like to announce that selling of tickets for the final match between the two teams will be done on the day of the match from 6am.
“This agreement has been reached after the parties considered a variety of issues during the discussions,” reads part of the statement.
It further stated that the organising committee noted the various merits and demerits in the foregoing arrangement of pre-selling the tickets “and notes that this consensus has been reached in the spirit of mutual respect and in the interest of the game.
“The organising Committee would like to kindly request all supporters and stakeholders to timely proceed to the stadium on the date of the match to avoid congestion. During the meeting the early opening of the stadium gates has also been agreed to facilitate a smooth process during the finals.
“The organising committee sincerely apologises to all supporters and stakeholders for any inconvenience the change may cause,” the statement further read.
