FAM to take debtors to court
Flames replica jerseys sales agents who owe FAM over K5 million (US$13 513) will face the law after November 16 following the local football governing body’s decision to take legal action.
If the defaulters think the issue is a football matter that cannot be settled in court, they should forget it because they will be summoned if they fail to pay the money or remit the stock before a one-month deadline Football Association of Malawi (FAM) issued on October 12.
FAM chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda confirmed the development during the week.
“We have given them [the agents] enough time to settle the bills, but it seems we have some bad debtors. Therefore, we will engage our lawyers to help us reclaim our money,” he said.
He argued that the issue is not a technical football matter but a commercial subject that can be sorted out in an ordinary court.
As one of the resolutions they came up with last month at their executive committee meeting in Mzuzu, FAM agreed to have the matter resolved by the time they hold their annual general meeting (AGM) on November 16.
While refusing to disclose names of the debtors, Nyirenda said they decided to start selling the replica jerseys on credit through the sales agents countrywide after reputable sportswear shops were reluctant to take the paraphernalia at K5 000 (US$13) each.
The replica jersey business is a marketing strategy FAM put in place to generate income for its operations, including funding national team activities.
However, professional marketer Wilkins Mijiga argued that FAM should blame itself for failing to partner professional commercial organisations to conduct the sales of the replica jerseys on their behalf.
He said FAM could not have experienced problems in the recovery of money from their agents had the association engaged people with financial capacity to provide bank guarantees and security in case the payments were defaulted.
“Let us accept that FAM has no capacity to run any kind of business. You never give out stocks without making assurances on bank guarantees and security with your agents,” said the National Bank of Malawi marketing head.
“The replica jersey business was a brilliant idea, but it could have been beneficial if people with proper acumen to run the business were given chance to handle this commercial project to avoid impacting the viability of the business,” he added.
But football analyst and former FAM chief executive officer Charles Nyirenda, defended the local football governing body on the matter, saying it is the ‘dishonest’ agents that need to be blamed for accepting a mission they could not accomplish.
He said FAM is only a victim of a ‘good-arrangement-turned-sour’ project.
He claimed the debtors are engaged in something that is “tantamount to cashgate”.
“If we say FAM was somehow wrong on their dealing with the agents that are now failing to honour the agreement, then we are not being fair because it was just the bad spirit of the ‘dishonest’ agents that contributed to the problem.
“I think FAM was not daft as not to be aware of the required channels to take to make agreements with the said agents. It is only that most Malawians have bad attitude when it comes to honouring agreements. How can someone take an assignment they cannot manage?” the ex-FAM general secretary wondered.
