Govt to construct sports centre at Katoto
The Ministry of Youth and Sports has announced that it will construct a sports centre at Katoto in Mzuzu.
Principal Secretary (PS) in the Sports Ministry, Alex Mseka, said this in Mzuzu on Saturday when he crowned Kabwafu FC as champions for the 2011-12 Simama Northern Region Football League.
“The President Mrs Joyce Banda believes sports unites people of different races; hence, it has pleased her government to build a youth centre in Mzuzu,” said Mseka.
He added that work on the facility to be built behind Toyota Malawi offices will start after the next budget sitting of Parliament. However, he did not disclose the proposed cost of the project.
The PS thanked the Simama Group of Companies, sponsors of the league, for complementing government’s efforts in developing sports in the region. He said the national team [the Flames] is the league’s biggest beneficiary.
He, however, advised Kabwafu FC to remain disciplined if they are to survive in the elite league.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) first vice-president Moses Mkandawire asked government to set a condition that every investor must contribute to sports development if sponsorship is to be guaranteed.
He noted that despite profiting from the conducive business environment in Malawi, many companies do not reciprocate the gesture.
NRFL chairperson Helton Gondwe appealed to the league’s sponsors to hike the stakes considering that the league has many teams which are not sponsored and the kwacha has been devalued.
Levant Mfune, who represented the sponsors, pledged continued sponsorship, but said he needed to consult on the appeal for an increase in the stakes.
Kabwafu received K600 000 (about $2 400) and a trophy whereas runners-up Mzuni got K300 000 (about $1200). Ekwendeni United got K100 000 (about $400) for coming third while fourth-placed Super Eagles received K60 000 ($240). Viphya FC got K10 000 (about $40) for being the most improved team.
Top goalscorer Chawanangwa Kawonga of Super Eagles received K10 000 ($40).
