National Sports

FAM targets MPs, executives for fundraising

Nyirenda: We are trying to reposition ourselves
Nyirenda: We are trying to reposition ourselves

The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has this week admitted failure to market the game to make it more lucrative and self-sustaining.

Weekend Nation established this week that FAM lacks a viable marketing strategy to enable it to stop depending on government.

This has forced the association to turn to parliamentarians and business executives to help it raise funds for the national teams as part of its 2013/14 marketing strategy.

Apparently, FAM would like to follow in the footsteps of the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) which is steadily becoming self-sufficient through a Zimbabwe Football Trust (ZFT) formed in February.

FAM’s new drive comes in the wake of many years of struggling to turn on a new image that can sway potential investors to do business with it.

The association’s general secretary Suzgo Nyirenda admitted in an interview on Thursday that Malawi history is replete with failed attempts at creating self-sustaining structures for football.

He said they have taken a leaf from Zimbabwe and are in the process of setting up a trust which apart from business executives, will also include parliamentarians and reputed marketers.

Nyirenda said unlike a similar committee which was set up in 2008 headed by Professor Matthews Chikaonda, the new committee will be an integral part of FAM.

 

“We are trying to reposition ourselves in the way we market our game. The function of the committee will be to mobilise capital for football. It will be a strategic and complementary arm of the association. It shall mobilise resources for football while the association concentrates on developing, controlling and promoting the game,” he said.

 

Nyirenda further said resources mobilised by this committee will also be used for women football.

Nsejjere Sports and Casual Wear country representative Jacob Chikoya has blamed FAM for not capitalising on the replica jersey sales.

“FAM can make more money because Malawi has a population of about 16 million. FAM needs only to target 2.5 percent of the population, which is 400 000, to get about K150 from each one of them. With affordable merchandise it can be making $200 000 (K60 million) every months. This is just an example,” said Chikoya.

He argued that with such money FAM cannot fail to sponsor the national team.

Nyirenda conceded that sales of the Puma replica jerseys have not been smooth.

According to The Herald newspaper, ZFT has so far raised $4 million (about K1.2 billion) for football.

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