K1m up for grabs in Carlsberg launch
Carlsberg Malawi Limited have announced that winners of the charity shield match between arch-rivals Big Bullets and Mighty Wanderers this Saturday, will cart home a cool K500 000 (about $2 000).
They say they have done this to add hype to the joint sponsorship launch of the two local football powerhouses and the Carlsberg Malawi Cup.
The company’s senior brands manager Twikale Chirwa said from the K1 million (about $4 000), the winners will get K500 000 (about $2 000) whereas K300 000 (about $1 200) will be donated to a charity cause of the winner’s choice.
“One hundred thousand kwacha will be donated to veterans of the two teams, who will meet in a curtain-raiser, whereas the other K100 000 (about $400) will be given to the ex- footballers association,” said Chirwa.
He also said the sponsorship strategy will be unveiled this Friday evening at Protea Ryalls in Blantyre by Carlsberg’s board chairperson Professor Matthews Chikaonda.
“Among other things, he will unveil Carlberg’s sponsorship vision and package. On the same Friday, we’ll parade the original Carlsberg Cup in the heart of the City of Blantyre,” said Chirwa.
He said Carlsberg is emphasising charity because they want the two clubs to take an active part in their corporate and social responsibility efforts in education, health, sports and environment.
“We have also noted that both clubs and the ex-players have undertaken fund-raising initiatives in the past and as Carlsberg, we want to complement their efforts and also give them a platform to achieve their objectives.
“There will also be lots of entertainment activities at the stadium to spice up the event,” he said.
Carlsberg Malawi recently announced that it would sponsor Bullets and Wanderers as well as reintroduce the national cup.
Coincidentally, the company’s romance with local football ended abruptly in 2003 when the final match between the two giants, ended in controversy.
During the announcement, Carlsberg Malawi’s group marketing manager Gwynyth Mchiela said: “It has been a journey indeed for Carlsberg Malawi to make a decision to finally sponsor local football.
“We, at Carlsberg Malawi, are going to sponsor what we are going to call Carlsberg Malawi Cup for a period of three years,” said Mchiela amid ululation from the turnout.
She, however, announced that the two giants will have to compete for the continued sponsorship based on discipline, fair play and performance.
“We will use fairplay, discipline and performance to select the team that we will sponsor in the future,” she said.
Added Mchiela: “So, basically from Carlsberg, we say the ball is in your court.”
She also said her company’s vision is to commercialise football in the country.
“When we invest in sponsorship like this, there is money attached to it, Carlsberg Malawi, therefore, expects a win-win situation for us to continue sponsoring. We, obviously, expect an increase in terms of volume and sales,” she said.
