The four teams that played in the Airtel Top 8 quarter-final first leg matches at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe on Saturday shared K9.3 million from a gross of K57.4 million from the double header.
The first match featured Civil Service (Civo) United and Blue Eagles while FCB Nyasa Bullets and Ekhaya FC met in the second match that kicked off at 5pm.
From the gross, K37 million went towards expenses, leaving a K20 million net from which the Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture, Bullets and Ekhaya got K3.7 million each while Malawi National Council of Sports, Civo and Blue Eagles received K936 874 each.
Bullets acting chief executive officer Albert Chigoga said: “Out of K57 million, teams receiving K3.7 million is unthinkable, but there is nothing we can do about it.”
On why teams that met in the second match got more than the curtain raisers, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) operations director Gomezgani Zakazaka said: “There were some arrangements which all teams agreed to, suffice to say the main match was the second one, but considering some logistical factors, Eagles chose to host the match at BNS.”
He also said the gross revenue did not reflect the turnout.
Said Zakazaka: “I believe we could have made much more, but we continue to encounter loopholes at BNS as many people still sneak their way in due to a porous security system.
“We asked the venue owners [Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture] to seal the loopholes, unfortunately they didn’t citing financial constraints.”
But the ministry’s spokesperson McacMillan Mwale said they were waiting for the Super League of Malawi (Sulom) to do their part in maintaining some parts of the perimeter fence which was damaged durung the recent Blantyre derby.
“An assessment was done. We did our part and we are now waiting for Sulom to do their part,” he said.
