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| Sports |
| Muluzi stops sponsoring Super League |
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by
Garry Chirwa, 03 March 2005
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14:59:54
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.We understand his position — Chibowa
.Sulom talking to Unilever, Chibuku, Press
Former State President Bakili Muluzi has finally come out of his shell and has made his position plain that he will not continue sponsoring the country’s top-flight football league, the Super League.
Letting the cat out of the bag on Wednesday, Super League of Malawi (Sulom) boss Henry Chibowa said the former president, who bankrolled the national league to the tune of K16.5 million ($152,777) last season, officially communicated about his position last week.
“The former president stated that he would have very much loved to continue sponsoring the league as verbally pledged but due to other unforeseen circumstances he will not be able to do so.
“As a league we have understood his position afterall, he just came in as a rescuer at a time when the league had almost reached a crisis point,” explained Chibowa.
The Sulom head added: “We are very grateful to him because of his big investment. Apart from sponsoring the league to the tune of K16.5 million, he also gave us an additional K2.7 million for the administration of the league as well as a brand new Nissan Hardbody Twin Cab worthy K4.5 million to ensure smooth operation of the league”.
Chibowa also said as a keen soccer follower, Muluzi tried to assist the league in securing another sponsor and identified a local bank which was prepared to take over sponsorship but the bank drew back after government failed to grant it a tax waiver.
But Chibowa said despite the latest developments, Sulom is optimistic that another sponsor will be identified very soon though he could still not be drawn to disclose names of companies with which Sulom is engaged in sponsorship discussions.
“We are crossing our fingers that the current talks and discussions with serious prospective sponsors will work out and we are making special appeals to the stakeholders to give us an opportunity to conclude the talks as premature disclosures have always resulted into loss of trust by the other parties, which can lead to collapse of such initiatives.
“Very soon you will know who our corporate citizen is but I can say we are 90 percent certain that we are on the right path in finding a sponsor. Though still optimistic, we are however, confronted by the issue of most companies budgets that are already closed for the current footballing season,” explained Chibowa.
But Unilever South East Africa’s public relations manager Rosilio Tembo confirmed last week that her company is one of those engaged in sponsorship discussions with Sulom.
And on Wednesday Tembo said discussions with the Super League governing body are still underway.
“They approached several companies and we are one of them and we cannot make an isolated statement because other companies and organisations like Chibuku Products Limited and Press Corporation are also involved.
“And in the end it will be Sulom that will come up with a statement,” said Tembo.
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