FDH bank unveils k450m football sponsorship
FDH Bank on Thursday unveiled a historic K450 million five-year sponsorship for a national league cup.
The historic K90 million per year cup, which will see K53.6 million being dedicated to prizes, will see the eventual winners carting home a cool K25 million, setting an all-time record in domestic football.
The inaugural edition is expected to run between May and September 2020.
FDH Bank head of marketing Levi Nkunika said, as a home-grown bank, they have come up with the historic sponsorship because they are being futuristic about Malawi’s football potential.
“No bank believes in the potential of Malawi football than FDH Bank. This is why we first partnered FAM in 2016. This was the time when the game was at the lowest level, but we saw the benefits and the potential in Malawi football,” he said.
“Where some people saw trouble, we saw great opportunities and success through this partnership. Malawi football has made great progress and the future is bright.”
Yesterday’s sponsorship unveiling seemed too sweet for FAM president Walter Nyamilandu, as he announced they will no longer accept other sponsors for elite football competitions.
“We have reached optimum number of sponsors for national football competitions and our plate is now full. We are not hungry or thirsty anymore; we will no longer take more sponsors for elite football cup competitions,” he said.
Instead, the FAM president said if other companies come up with sponsorship offers, they would be advised to channel them towards other needy categories such as women and youth football tournaments.
“FDH Bank has raised the bar of football sponsorship. No other bank has partnered football in such a serious way. In the past, K25 million was sponsorship for an entire competition, but now this goes to the eventual winners alone. This shows that football really deserves the best and not the leftovers. Finally, Malawi football has a father in this bank, which supports us in both the good and the bad times,” he said
The latest football sponsorship comes on top of the bank’s K180 million three-year sponsorship for the Flames. The home-grown bank also bankrolls grassroots football through the Mayor’s Trophy to the tune of K10 million for each of the country’s four cities of Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.
This year alone, the bank has pumped over K160 million in sports events as it has also injected K1 million into a non-title boxing match between Limbani Masamba and Chikondi Makawa at Motel Paradise in Blantyre this Sunday.
FAM competitions committee chairperson Jabber Alide said the competition will involve all regional premier league teams (62 teams), who will compete in the preliminary round, and the 16 TNM Super League outfits.
He said top 16 regional league teams will each get K500 000 starter-pack and two match balls while at national level, runners-up will get K8 million while losing semi-finalists and quarter-finalists will take home K2 million and K1 million, respectively.
“There will also be individual awards such as the top-scorer and discovery of the tournament worth K200 000 each,” he said.
