Mutharika honours SRFL sponsorship
Barely two days after being sworn in, President Peter Mutharika has lived to his word by honouring the full sponsorship for the Southern Region Football League (SRFL).
According to the league’s chairperson Trouble Kalua, the president through his personal aide Ben Phiri, has pledged to continue bankrolling the league.
Phiri could not be reached to confirm the development, but Kalua said the money was presented at a private meeting held in Blantyre yesterday.
The development puts to rest the cloud of uncertainty that surrounded the league’s sponsorship, which at times, seemed to be headed towards a listless conclusion. Phiri told The Nation earlier on that the sponsor would honour the full package soon after the campaign period.
“The prize money has been paid and we shall proceed to pay the winners now.
“He [Phiri] reiterated the president’s passion for sport and his continued desire to support the league. He said youth and sports are one of the government’s priority areas,” said Kalua.
The SRFL boss said they were grateful that the sponsor has come good on his commitment.
“We were in no doubt that the money would be paid as it has always been in the previous two seasons.
“Understandably, we were under pressure, sometimes from the winning teams, but as a league we were confident that the prize money would be paid at the right time,” he said.
Kalua further said in view of the development, the executive committee will soon meet to plan for the new season expected to kickoff in June, “with renewed optimism and hope of our sponsor’s continued support.”
Mutharika signed a three-year K15 million sponsorship [K5 million per season] agreement with the league in 2011 which has since expired.
He gave the league a K1 million part sponsorship for the league’s administration at the start of last season and there was a K4 million remainder.
Apart from the SRFL, Mutharika was also sponsoring all the three regional women football leagues and according to National Women Football Committee (NWFC) chairperson Severia Chalira, indications yesterday were that the sponsorship coordinator was in the process of arranging the same.
Premier division champions were Chikhwawa United and division one winners were SureStream.
