Carlsberg Cup final realises record K15 million
A record K15 million (about $40 000) was realised from Saturday’s Carlsberg Cup final at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre during a game involving Big Bullets Foofball Club and Zomba United.
The stadium was packed to capacity such that fans resorted to invading the ‘no go zone’ restricted areas to catch the glimpse of the Carlsberg final.
From the gross, the two finalists Big Bullets and Zomba United got K2.6 million each while the remaining K9 million (about $24 000) was shared by other stakeholders such as Sulom and Stadium authorities.
Bullets chairperson Kondi Msungama said while the figure matched the huge turnout, clubs continue to get a raw deal from such gate collections.
“How can teams, who are the main stakeholders get K2.6 million each from K15 million and expect them to be self-sustainable?” queried Msungama.
He also said his team is planning to lobby other Super League teams to take a different approach on the drive to have gate-revenue sharing system reviewed.
“For years, we have done it using Football Association of Malawi (FAM) and Super League of Malawi (Sulom), but they are not helping us probably because they are part of the problem. We will now take a different approach,” said Msungama.
He said while they appreciate that the main problem is because clubs do not own grounds, a review to have teams share 50 percent of the gross, would be a win-win situation.
Bullets general secretary Harold Fote said the gross could have been more had the tournament’s organising committee, engaged the teams.
“If entry fee was K1 000 for open stands, the revenue could have been more. It could have also been a way of controlling the crowd which spilled to restricted areas,” said Fote.
However, FAM chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda said it is not like the association ignores clubs’ suggestions.
“We do raise these issues with ground owners, but they stick to their guns, the problem is that our teams do not own grounds.
“But we will still push for ways to review the system,” said Nyirenda.
