Bullets miss gate revenue target
FCB Nyasa Bullets have blamed security flaws at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe for their failure to meet their targeted K70 million revenue in Sunday’s TotalEnergies CAF Champions League first preliminary round first-leg match against Dragon FC of Equatorial Guinea.
Bullets won the match 1-0 to qualify for the second preliminary round on a 3-0 aggregate.
In an interview on Monday, the People’s Team chief administration officer Albert Chigoga said the match raised K46 million, which was K24 million less than the targeted amount.
He said: “We made around K46 million and almost 50 percent was made through advance ticket sales.
“It’s very annoying that systems betrayed us because our target was K70 million. Our projection is that the turnout was 35 000 and considering that the standard ticket was K2 000, we should have hit the target.”
Chigoga said from the gross,Football Association of Malawi (FAM) got 10 percent, translating to K4.6 million.
He also dismissed social media reports that they grossed K93 million, describing them as “totally false”.
In a separate interview, FAM commercial and marketing director Limbani Matola, who has in the past raised concerns on security flaws at the 40 000-seater stadium, said the revenue could have been more with security.
“Indeed, FAM is sympathising with FCB Nyasa Big Bullets regarding revenue leakage. It’s very clear that more money would have been collected,” he said.
Matola said among others, the perimeter fence is not strong enough “and the situation is worsened by vandals who continue to break the fence every time it is mended”.
He said: “The laxity of security agents is another frustrating matter. Oftentimes, there are cases where the security agents are reported to abandon posts, thereby weakening the access control systems.
“It remains a concern that such a beautiful and state-of-the-art 40 000-seater stadium has only two official entrances for the walk-in fans and only one gate for vehicles.
“This weakens safety and security efforts event organisers, including FAM, desire to implement and enforce. The main point as lamented by FCB Nyasa Bullets is that event organisers continue to spend a lot of resources with little to show for.
“That said, we remain hopeful that sooner rather than later, these matters will be given the attention they deserve.”
But the stadium’s manager Ambirike Mwaungulu attributed the situation partly to fraud.
He said: “This time it was not necessarily security lapse, but rather a well-orchestrated plan whereby some unscrupulous people that manage the entry points get money from fans to let them in. It is the kuthyola khobwe tactic.
“So, it is more about a lapse in gate management which need tightening.”
