Top Malawian clubs shun Super League meet

• Assign fans to attend gate-management indaba

Super League teams, which groan and moan about gate-ticketing fraud, shunned a Southern Region stakeholders’ meeting meant to arrest the vice leading to the Kamuzu Stadium’s indaba’s abrupt end on Tuesday.

The region’s four of five elite teams—Big Bullets, Azam Tigers, Mighty Be Forward Wanderers and Red Lions— only delegated their respective fans. Surestream were ably represented.

Super League of Malawi (Sulom) vice-president Daud Suleman and treasurer Tiya Somba-Banda hosted the meeting meant to table ticketing, outsourcing, Laws of the Game and gate management ahead of the season’s kick-off this Saturday.

“We were indeed surprised at the absence of the team executives during the meeting because we only received one apology from Red Lions. We are not sure of the reason for their absence and we would like to applaud Surestream for their presence,” said Somba Banda.

“The meeting has been rescheduled to Wednesday 15th April, 2015 and we expect representation of all the governance structures of the teams, that is executive leadership as well as supporters leadership. We recognise the fact that supporters are a key stakeholder in football and we want them to be involved in these meetings together with their executive members.”

Wanderers’ general secretary Mike Butao yesterday took responsibility for his executive committee’s no-show while attributing this to communication breakdown after he wrongly advised his colleagues that the meeting was cancelled while mistaking such a gathering for another aborted gathering.

However, Bullets general secretary Harold Fote, who the fans claim to have fired, yesterday said he was afraid of the supporters whose representatives at the meeting included vice-chairperson Bowman Phiri.

“We were afraid as Sulom did not guarantee us of our security. Our supporters are above the law. We have reported such matters to police several times, but nothing happens. It is as if we were not citizens of this country. They are granted bail easily and they are defiant,” Fote complained

Phiri insisted that the Bullets executive members they recognise such as acting chairperson Sadiki Malinga was outside the country; hence, delegated the fans.

“Mr. Tiya Somba Banda was supposed to chair the meeting, but he came late; hence, it did not continue. We do not intimidate anyone. After all, the police were present. We welcome suggestions that fans should not be involved in gate management. We only play a supervisory role,” Phiri said yesterday.

Kamuzu Stadium manager Charles Mhango, who attended the aborted meeting, said his mandate is only to do with the facility, but was nonetheless surprised that “teams were only represented by supporters”.

Such stakeholders meetings, whose agenda included revised Laws of the Games, are happening countrywide alongside ground inspections. Other stakeholders meetings took place on Tuesday at Silver Stadium and Mzuzu Stadium.