FAM hopes for more sponsorship increases

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Fleetwood Haiya says he is hoping to see more football sponsors following Castel Malawi’s review of packages ahead of the new season.

He said this on Wednesday evening at Amaryllis Hotel in Blantyre after Castel Malawi managing director Thomas Reynaud announced the increased sponsorship of the Ibongetse Castel Challenge Cup from K320 million to K400 million with the eventual champions getting K55 million.

Said Haiya: “Even at K320 million annual packages, Castel Challenge Cup was already the biggest football sponsorship on the land yet the company thought it wise to increase the package by 25 percent within the three years of their contract.

“It is, therefore, our expectation that the other football sponsors will follow the same route as a way of further cementing our relationship considering that football offers value in return.”

The country has four major football sponsors. The other three are TNM plc, who recently  tripled the TNM Super League’s annual package to K450 million,  Airtel Malawi plc who concluded their three-year K78 million annual Airtel Top 8 contract in December 2023  and  FDH Bank  plc which sponsors of FDH Bank Cup at K120 million.

The FAM president said he recently visited all the major football sponsors and the key message that he sent across was the sponsorship enhancement.

In his speech, Reynaud said Castel Malawi is committed to football growth in the country and they believe an enhanced sponsorship was ideal in the face of the recent devaluation of the local currency.

“Apart from that, we were impressed with the competitiveness of the tournament from the district level up to the national stage. We have seen the potential,” he said.

In 2024, the champions’ prize has been increased by K5 million to K55 million while that of the runners-up has been maintained at K25 million.