Orange Partners deny FAM, Sulom gate share: Close to K15m realised
Football Association of Malawi (Fam), Super League of Malawi (Sulom) and Sports Council had a rude awakening at the weekend when they were told they would not get any share from gate takings of the Orange Partners’ Charity Shield Soccer tournament played at Civo Stadium on Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, Big Bullets defeated Epac FC 2-0 to set up a final clash against Super League champions Silver Strikers, who also defeated Mighty Wanderers by the same margin. The ‘People’s team’ went on to lift the trophy after trouncing the bankers 3-1 during the final match on Sunday .
On both days, fans turned up in their multitudes to watch the country’s top sides battle for the K1 million top prize.
During both games, the Orange Partners manned the gates themselves without involving any other parties including Fam and Sulom.
They were also strict in letting people go into the stadium, unlike during Super League or cup games, when many people go in for free. Even journalists had it tough going in to cover the proceedings.
But the most surprised group were officials from Fam, Sulom and Sports Council, who were told they would not get anything from the gate takings because it was a charity event.
Officials from the three bodies were not even allowed into the counting room as the Orange Partners took charge of everything including payments of referees, policemen and game stewards. Ground owners, Civil Serving Sporting Club were paid K1.3 million booking fee in advance.
A Fam official, who did not want to be named complained there was no prior arrangement between the organizers and football authorities on the arrangement of sharing gate takings and that the body was surprised to see the partners taking charge of everything.
“Our people went to perform their normal duties but we were surprised to see the organizers taking charge of everything and preventing us from getting close with the cash,” said the official.
According to sources, the Saturday games, which attracted the biggest crowd fetched over K8 million with the final grossing slightly less than the Sunday collections.
The organizers could not be reached for comment on Sunday as they were still busy with the cash logistics.
