Bullets, Nomads to meet JB
Malawi President Joyce Banda is scheduled to meet Big Bullets and Mighty Wanderers next Monday (April 28) over sponsorship.
A well-placed source confided in The Nation on Monday that the meeting is slated for Sanjika Palace in Blantyre and the teams have already been contacted through Information Minister Brown Mpinganjira.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that the two teams will get a substantial financial boost from the President’s foundation, JBF.
“Through their joint sponsorship drive, the two teams requested an audience to meet the President which was granted and the two teams have been informed through Hon. Mpinganjira,” said the source.
Mpinganjira could not be reached for comment, but Youth and Sports Minister Enoch Chihana confirmed the development, saying: “That request was indeed made, but I do not have the final confirmation yet.”
Asked whether sponsorship was the agenda of the meeting, Chihana said: “Looking at the plight of the two teams, it is very likely that it will feature highly. It certainly cannot be avoided.
“I am sure the other issue that is most likely to be tackled is on how to curb the growing cases of violence and hooliganism.”
While confirming the meeting, Bullets chairperson Kondi Msungama said he did not have the details.
His Wanderers counterpart, George Chamangwana, could not be reached for comment, but the team’s trustees vice-chairperson, James Chuma, confirmed hearing about it in passing from Chamangwana.
It is reported that through presidential aides, the two teams submitted their budgets estimated in excess of K50 million each for the President’s perusal.
However, it is not clear whether the K10 million pledge which the joint fund-raising committee claimed was made by People’s Party (PP) will be honoured at the same function.
The pledge included the K5 million prize for the IntoSports Giants Cup, but Msungama claimed that the issues are different.
Wanderers and Bullets are among four teams in the top-flight league that do not have sponsorship. The others are Blantyre United and newly promoted Chikwawa United.
