Super League embrace outsourcing
Most TNM Super League games’ ticketing was outsourced over the weekend, signalling teams might have embraced the concept meant to arrest gate money fraud, the Super League of Malawi (Sulom) confirmed.
The teams had been indifferent to their own resolutions of April 1 2013 to outsource gate management.
Last year, Mighty Wanderers fans chased Fellowship Association of Malawi (Fama) officials assigned to man Kamuzu Stadium gates. But the same Wanderers led the way for outsourcing to Fama when hosting Silver Strikers on Saturday at the same stadium.
The match realised K3 million (about $7 142) gross, an amount Nomads chairperson George Chamangwana said was encouraging.
“Each team went home with K500 000 (about $1 190). Usually, such a game would fetch K1.5 million (about $3 571). We only realise a gross of K3 million when facing Big Bullets, so the gate collections were good,” Chamangwana explained.
Silver general secretary Mike Tembo said the Bankers had no problem when Wanderers, as hosts, suggested the outsourcing.
On the same day, Big Bullets earned K150 000 (about $371) from their meeting with Moyale Barracks at Mzuzu Stadium. Bullets general secretary Harold Fote said he had no qualms about the revenue because there were downpours.
“We pray that the outsourcing should bring a difference, Of course, some supporters will be keeping an eye on them, but the supporters will not be handling the cash,” Fote explained on Monday.
At Civo Stadium, a meeting between Civo United and Azam Tigers grossed K305 000 (about $726) with Fama officials also in charge. Civo general secretary Rashid Ntelela said the amount tallied with the low turnout.
The Kamuzu Barracks game against Tigers grossed over K250 000 while the Red Lions match against Blantyre United realised in excess of K200 000 (about $595).
“When we started this, they [Fama] were the only ones. They get a per 10 percent cut after the match. But now more firms are interested. We have two applications. We may sit down with Sulom to compare the terms being offered by the others and see if we can try the others,” Ntelela explained.
Sulom general secretary Williams Banda commended the teams for finally embracing the outsourcing of gate management, but noted that there were still some pockets of resistance.
Fama organising secretary Japhet Majekete on Monday confirmed that they helped teams earn for their sweat, adding that they would extend their wings to Zomba and Mzuzu on teams’ demand.
Fama deployed unfamiliar faces such as boxer Philemon Nkhakamila Banda at Kamuzu Stadium. At some games such as those in Mzuzu and Chitowe, the teams deployed churchpersons to man the gates.
