FAM wants Umbro kit re-designed

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) wants Umbro to improve the Flames uniform after market analysis  showed that the replicas are failing to sell because they are poorly designed.

Of the 5 000 replicas which went on the market in 2014, 600 pieces are yet to be sold.

The poor sales have led Umbro to delay supplying the Flames with a new kit.

FAM head of marketing  Limbani Matola said fans have been complaining that the kit design is not captivating.

“We have been asking for feedback from the public on why the replicas are not selling well and one of the key reasons they give is that they are poorly designed,” he said.

He said at the upcoming meeting with Umbro representatives, FAM will advise the kit manufacturer to improve the design.

“We were supposed to meet them in March to strategise on the next consignment of the kit, but we failed because the Umbro guys were engaged. But that meeting will take place soon,” Matola said.

During the meeting, he said FAM wants to propose to Umbro to involve Malawian designers before producing the new jerseys.

At the turn of the New Year, there were still 1 400 pieces of the replicas.

Football marketing agent Felix Ngamanya Sapao attributed the replicas’ poor sales to FAM’s decision to use an international company as a Flames kit provider.

“FAM is over-ambitious that is why it partnered with an expensive brand. This has led into the replicas being too expensive for the Malawian market,” he said.

“The best marketing strategy could have been to engage a local company as a kit supplier. In this way, the replicas can be selling at a K1 000 (about $1.5) or K2 000 (about $3).”

FAM signed a contract with Umbro last year after the initial kit deal with Puma fell off.

Puma terminated the contract in 2014 after FAM failed to fulfil contractual obligations of ordering consignments.

If FAM fails to order a new consignment within the stipulated period, the association could find itself in the same predicament with Umbro.n