Sulom president elect promises Champs League package

Super League of Malawi (Sulom) sole presidential candidate Tiya Somba-Banda has promised to source a package for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League representatives.

This is contained in his manifesto titled ‘Leading Football Business’ which centres on commercialisation.

Somba-Banda hopes that sourcing an annual package for the continental tournament’s ambassadors, will inspire more clubs to take part in the showpiece.

“Participating in CAF is paramount in improving both football standards and commercial viability of the clubs. The international competition not only presents an opportunity to compete against the best on the continent, but it also exposes the clubs’ sponsors and partners to a wider market beyond Malawi and Africa,” the manifesto reads.

On commercialisation, Banda states that: “During this term, we will focus on creating and harnessing a conducive operating environment for commercialisation of clubs. We have noted that our league cannot graduate from amateur to professional if the clubs do not have financial muscle,” reads part of the manifesto.

Sulom goes to the polls in Salima this Saturday to elect a new executive committee. Unopposed Somba-Banda, who is the current treasurer, will be inducted as president, taking over from Innocent Bottomani who has opted out.

Somba-Banda also promised to increase gate revenues through implementation of advance ticket sales and e-ticketing system.

“We will be engaging stadium owners to modernise the stadia for the advancement of e-ticketing through installation of electronic turnstiles,” the aspiring president said.

Sulom, according to the manifesto, will develop a database for players’ statistics “which will help coaches to focus on areas of improvement for individual players and the team”.

He hopes that this will help “market our players abroad and also help journalists in analysing games or players”.

In an interview, Somba-Banda said his manifesto is focusing on empowering clubs to be financially stable because it is the best way to attain full commercialisation.

Silver Strikers general secretary Lawrence Yobe branded the manifesto as good, but urged the Sulom president designate to ensure he fulfils the promises.

“The Champions League financial package is a welcome development. This is a straight forward issue and we don’t expect it to take ages. They should implement it this year,” he said.