FAM seals Umbro deal

It’s a done deal. FAM has signed a three-year technical sponsorship deal with England-based giant sportswear manufacturer Umbro to be the official sponsor for the national soccer team.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu said the deal was sealed recently, but the launch is set for October 7 when the symbolic signing agreement will be held in Blantyre.

“The agreement means Umbro will be the official technical sponsor of the national soccer team and it entails the supply of football equipment that will include tailor-made uniforms that are currently under production.

“In return, we’ll be required to order replica jerseys for sale within an agreed period,” said Nyamilandu.

He said to that effect, FAM has set the ball rolling by making an initial order of 5 000 replica jerseys that will be on sale before the Flames host Africa’s current highest-ranked side Algeria’s Desert Foxes in a Group B 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier slated for October 11.

“Payment amounting to K50 million (about $131 000) has already been made to Umbro for the initial replica jerseys’ consignment and in the match against Algeria, the Flames will [also] put on tailor-made uniform. Basically, we have maintained the red kit for home matches and green for away games. Both kits will have touches of the national flag.

“Let me also reiterate the uniforms are different from those that the national team has been wearing of late. As I said before, what we took was not our choice, but rather what was made available at the shelf,” said Nyamilandu.

Asked what will be the advantages of the Umbro deal compared to the previous sponsors, Nyamilandu said: “Generally, they are flexible in terms of their expectations. They will also be giving us free complementary sportswear and attire for the Flames and further to that, the equipment sponsorship will extend to other national teams. So, we anticipate a win-win situation.”

However, the FAM boss ruled out the possibility of Umbro providing different classes of replica jerseys to accommodate less privileged fans as suggested by some quarters because that might give room to piracy.

“Due to piracy we cannot negotiate for different qualities as it has the potential to destroy the business,” he said.

However, the FAM boss said the price for the replica jerseys is yet to be determined.

“That will be done at the next executive committee meeting and other details pertaining to the deal will be unveiled at the launch where Umbro representatives will also be available,” he said.

The move to enter into an agreement with Umbro follows FAM’s mutual termination of a similar contract it had with Puma.

Puma terminated the contract early this year due to non-performance in the sale of replica jerseys on the part of FAM.

“The requirement was to sell the [10 000 units] stocks after a year, but it took us a period of about three years to complete the initial stock, but with Umbro we are confident of meeting the targets because the consignment is half that of Puma and their conditions are a bit flexible,” he said.

The FAM president said the Puma deal was a learning curve, “as it was clear that we overestimated the market and our distribution channels weren’t clear-cut. The other challenge was our debt-collection system. So, these were the lessons learnt.”

Before the Puma deal, Flames’ technical sponsor was Adidas.

Umbro is a British sportswear and football equipment supplier based in Manchester, Greater Manchester. The company is since 2012 a subsidiary of American company Iconix Brand Group.

Umbro designs, sources, and markets football-related apparel, footwear, and equipment. Its products are sold in over 90 countries worldwide.

Over the years, Umbro has sponsored a number of national teams including Brazil and until recently England. Currently, apart from the Flames, it is also the official technical sponsor for Botswana’s Zebras in Africa.