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With the K16.5m Bakili Muluzi Super League (BMSL) winding up in a few weeks time, an unprecedented soccer drought is looming, following the withdrawal of all cup sponsorship by companies.
Unless Football Association of Malawi (Fam) or the Super League of Malawi, (Sulom) comes up with something positive, soccer players may find themselves loafing around in town up to the end of the year.
But who is really to blame for such a predicament? An assessment carried out by Nation Online has revealed Football Association of Malawi (Fam), soccer fans and sponsors as well are to blame.
A Lilongwe-based football expert Peter Jere laid the whole blame on Fam, accusing the body of failing to market itself to potential sponsors.
“In my own assessment the whole blame should point at Fam. The association has placed itself in a position of a loser. When establishing relationships with sponsors, it is supposed to be a win-win situation whereby a sponsor gains and Fam gains as well. But Fam is poor and because of that poverty, it has turned itself into a beggar.
“If the organisation was administratively run on commercial basis, it could have had own investments and money to establish a marketable image. Sponsors could have been rushing to the organisation to sell their products instead of Fam rushing to the sponsors,” said Jere.
A renowned business consultant, who drew up a comprehensive commercialisation concept for Bakili Bullets that was not adopted of by the club, Jere said Fam has remained stagnant and happily accepted to be a beggar.
“There is no any commercialisation strategy and for years Fam has survived on handouts,” said Jere.
But soccer fan Lloyd Mbela feels sponsors have to take much of the blame. “Most sponsors have taken Malawi football for a ride. They come not with the intention to develop the game but promote their products. When they see they have gained enough mileage, they pull out, using violence or bad administration as scapegoats.
“Much as violence ought not to be condoned, sponsors must know that football is a game of emotions. Sponsors should not stake huge sponsorship like K30 million ($277,777) and expect everything to go on smoothly. Those who perpetrate violence are just a handful and sponsors should not make millions suffer because of sins committed by a few,” said Mbela.
He singled out Carlsberg Breweries and BP Malawi as some of the companies which have gained a lot from football.
“I am a big customer of Carlsberg beer and when the Carlsberg tournament was reaching its hot stages, I could notice the excitement in pubs. For BP, they had just changed from Oilcom to BP and the company promoted it’s new brand name and products through the Top 8 sponsorship. Why should the marriage be over this time?”
While concurring with Jere that Fam has not done enough to attract sponsors, Fifa/Caf Instructor Bester Kalombo, who is Director of Sports in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture said the sponsors were to blame to a certain extent.
“It’s true, the companies might have had other problems and not the ones that were stated. If indeed Fam was the problem, the sponsors could have set conditions for their sponsorship or appoint organising committees comprising their senior managers, Fam officials and other experts.”
While accepting some of the blame, Fam’s spokesman McCollins Chibvunde said there was a problem of pulling one another within the soccer ranks.
“We heard of individuals from one of the leagues under Fam going to BP Malawi, asking the company to take away the administration of the BP Top 8 competition from Fam and give it to the league. Such attitudes have also contributed to the withdrawal of sponsorship,” said Chibvunde.
Super Association of Malawi (Sulom) boss Henry Chibowa simply said: “We are beggars, we can’t blame sponsors. We just have to convince other companies to fill the gaps and we are just doing that with Fam”.
BP Malawi chief executive Hipolyte Mushi refused comment, only saying his company issued a press release on the withdrawal of the Top 8 sponsorship “and we did not accuse anyone. We even praised Fam for running the cup professionally.”
Mushi could also not say whether BP Malawi’s withdrawal had a link with the pulling out of BP sponsorship of football in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Chibuku Products’ sales and marketing manager George Macheka, whose company has been sponsoring football for decades before pulling out two years ago, said the coming in of big sponsorship has contributed in chasing away other sponsors.
“My own personal view is that the coming in of huge sponsorship chased away the smaller sponsors. The smaller ones knew they would be considered small fish in a big pond and started moving out. When the big fishes pulled out after failing to sustain the huge sponsorships, there was nobody left,” he said.
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