Charity Blantyre derby suffers K6.5m loss
Central Region Football Association (CRFA) has incurred a K6.5 million loss from the charity Blantyre derby between Nyasa Big Bullets and Be Forward Wanderers at Kasungu Stadium on the Sunday.
The match, whose proceeds will go to bereaved families of Central Region league outfit Makesure FC players and an official, who died during a road accident in November, grossed K4.5 million while CRFA said it invested K11 million.
Prior to the match, the organisers said they were targeting to raise K20 million from the match involving the two most followed football teams in the country.
In an interview, CRFA vice general secretary Antonio Manda described the financial outcome as disastrous considering their massive investment.
He attributed the low turnout to rains which hit Kasungu on the day. The match ended goalless.
“We are disappointed with the amount we have raised. We believe that this was caused by the poor weather. There was a heavy downpour which nearly resulted into the cancellation of the match,” he said.
Manda further disclosed that they still owe the two teams K2 million each in unpaid match appearance fees.
“We agreed that we would pay them the balance after the match. The situation does not look good at all. What we are planning to do is to ask the clubs that we pay them later after sourcing the money elsewhere,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bullets chief administration officer Albert Chigoga suspected that the match was ill-timed since the football season had just ended.
“People’s focus had shifted from football to the festive season. So, the time, in my opinion, was not good,” he said.
Chigoga also said the match pricing was also high for some football lovers in the district.
“I also feel that K2 000 per ticket was significantly on the higher side. Again, choosing Kasungu as the venue was not a good idea. Nonetheless, they had a good agenda to support the bereaved families,” he said.
On the balance, Chigoga said they will discuss with the CRFA on the way forward.
On his part, Wanderers team manager Victor Maunde said he pitied the CRFA on the poor turnout.
“We really observed that the people did not turn up as expected. I believe that we will analyse the situation with the organisers on how we can proceed,” he said.
