Carlsberg sponsorship deadlock
Carlsberg Malawi Limited on Tuesday announced a one-year K15 million (about $38 000) sponsorship for each of the giants, Big Bullets and Mighty Wanderers.
Letting the cat out of the bag at Protea Ryalls in Malawi’s commercial city of Blantyre, Carlsberg chief executive officer Abel Chanje’s message was clear that neither the Nomads nor the People’s Team made the grade last season.
“I want to remind you, Carlsberg does not condone indiscipline. You could have done far, far better. There was no much significance in terms of behaviour and performance for both teams,” Chanje said in Mulanje Room at 1pm.
Bullets won the 2012 Presidential Cup while Wanderers settled for the Standard Bank Knockout Trophy. They also shared blemishes in hooliganism and violence.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu called on both teams to put their houses in order.
“If Carlsberg wanted to pull out they could have used the deplorable behaviour as an excuse, but they have given the two teams a second chance. Their behaviour was insignificant, but it was noticeable. Please, let us behave,” said Nyamilandu, who brokered the deal.
Carlsberg Malawi will at the end of the year review the sponsorship which equals the package the company gave last season to both teams.
Bullets chairperson Malinda Chinyama and his Wanderers counterpart George Chamangwana, whose fans briefly exploded into song and dance, promised to improve on their fans’ behaviour.
“We were tensed up leading to this announcement. We cannot complain about the amount, how many companies can even give K1 million [$2 500] to football? The issue is about using the K15 million [about $38 000] as a start-up capital for commercialisation. Carlsberg has behaved like parents. We made mistakes but they understood,” said Chinyama.
Chamangwana vowed to ensure that their supporters behave next season, adding that “indiscipline might have led to Carlsberg to settling for both of us.”
Other Carlsberg officials present at the function were Twikale Chirwa, senior brands manager (alcoholic), group commercial director Allen Mcinnes and group marketing manager Gwynyth Mchiela, FAM chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda and his commercial manager Casper Jangale.
