BB fans u-turn: Withdraw threats, apologise to sponsor
In an act of sheer comedy, Nyasa Big Bullets main supporters committee has swallowed its pride and withdrawn its threats to the club’s sponsors Nyasa Manufacturing Company (NMC).
The supporters committee gave the sponsors an ultimatum of up to 5pm on Tuesday to pay players’ salaries for February or pull out their sponsorship.
But in a press release issued yesterday, the supporters retracted their statement as well as apologised to the sponsor.
“We as Nyasa Big Bullets supporters committee officially wish to retract our statement and threat. After a fruitful meeting with the sponsor, we discovered that the salaries of the players had already been processed prior to the suspension of the sponsorship.
“It is in light of this that we wish to make a formal apology to our sponsors for this unfortunate misunderstanding,” reads part of the media release signed by the supporters committee chairperson Stone Mwamadi.
Mwamadi also repeated the apology when NMC exeecutive director Dimitri Kalaitzis addressed the players at Kamuzu Stadium yesterday afternoon.
In his brief address, Kalaitzis said the welfare of the players remains their priority.
“This is why we were deeply distressed by the wrongful assumption that we had withheld players’ salaries before we announced that we were suspending the sponsorship until internal wrangles were resolved.
“We wish to assure all Bullets players, supporters and the general public that we are committed to this sponsorship partnership and we are in this marriage with the People’s Team for the long run,” he said.
Meanwhile, the resurgent Bullets board of trustees has appealed to the sponsors to lift the sponsorship suspension in the interest of players’ welfare.
The request is contained in a press statement issued yesterday which was signed by chairperson James Busilley and secretary Jim Kalua.
“For the interest of the technical aspect of the club [players, technical and administrative employees], we are appealing to NMC to immediately uplift the sponsorship suspension,” the release partly reads.
The trustees, have meanwhile, nullified the interim executive committee that was recently appointed by the supporters committee and that instead, another interim executive committee will be put in place in consultation with the supporters body.
It also states that: “All the trustees who resigned, have been reinstated with immediate effect.”
The trustees have said procedures are being revisited to allow for proper guidance in the governance of the team so that each club structure is aware of its mandate and observance of limits of their powers.
