Bullets cut budget for Commoros trip

• Comoros trip cost now at K15m from K30m
• Raise K2m, expecting K5m from undisclosed sponsor

Big Bullets FC has halved its budget for the trip to the Comoros Islands  from the initial K30 million to K15 million.

Confirming the development on Wednesday, the club’s chairperson Kondi Msungama said this has been done after establishing that they will cut costs by covering part of the trip by road.

So far, the People’s Team has raised K2 million, but say they are expecting another K5 million from an  undiclosed sponsor for  the Comoros foray where they will face Club Fomboni in the preliminary round first-leg of the CAF Champions League scheduled for February 14.

Msungama yesterday said a mobile phone network service provider has committed to assisting them with K5 million subject to Sulom’s approval on whether the gesture will not be in direct conflict with TNM sponsorship.

“But we will still keep its identity under wraps for now until legal complications are cleared. But we are grateful to them because so far, that is the biggest sponsorship that we have been offered and we are hopeful that Sulom will give us the green light, because as we said, we do not see any direct conflict,” said Msungama.

Reacting to the development, Sulom president Innocent Bottoman yesterday said their legal adviser Felix Tambulasi was expected to make a determination on the matter by today.

Msungama also said the club has also intensified the fundraising drive.

“Through the NBS Bank account that we opened last week,  well-wishers and our supporters have so far deposited almost K1 million and we also raised a similar amount through proceeds from friendly matches that we had recently,” he said.

Msungama also confirmed that on advice from their Comoros opponents, they will cover part of their trip by road.

“We contacted our Fomboni counterparts who advised us that we will cut costs by almost half if we travel by road from here to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and then fly from there to Comoros because they too will fly to Dar es Salaam and then proceed to Blantyre by road.

“According to our calculations, we will save in the range of K15 million and I will be travelling to Dar-es-Salaam tomorrow [today] to finalise the air travel bookings. We are also in the process of finalising hiring a bus for a delegation of 30,” he said.

Asked whether they are serious about raising the shortfall with just a week before the team’s departure, the ever-optimistic Msungama said: “No-one gave us a chance to raise even K7 million and I am saying in the next seven days, we will intensify the drive to woo well -wishers and our fans to deposit money into the special account.

“Then we also hope to make in the excess of K5 million from a mini-tournament slated for this weekend which will attract a team from Mozambique.”

“Already, we are reaching out to the fans through mobile banking, especially in the rural areas where our fans and well-wishers can deposit through a mobile vehicle. We are determined to make things happen, every journey starts with a single step and we’ll make it in the end.

“We have to sweat and set an example that it is possible for Malawian teams to take part in continental tournaments, nothing comes on a silver platter. I just urge our fans to assist their team by depositing at NBS Bank [Blantyre Branch] account number is 0020981070012,” said Msungama.