K750 000 Central Region Pool League launched
Businessperson Lefnos Chigamula on Saturday launched the K750 000 ($1n 082.25) Central Region Pool League (CRPL) at Civo Club house in Lilongwe.
Minister of Sports and Culture Grace Chiuma gave weight to the occasion.
“Often we focus on football and netball, but we have 43 sports diciplines in the country. My presence here is to endorse pool as a popular sport. We are a diverse people with different talents. It is important that all sports disciplines receive same attention,” said Chiumia
The minister said government through Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) provides monetary allocation to all the 43 sports codes as a demonstration of its commitment to promotion of sports.
“My appeal is to the corporate world and businesspersons out there not to be selective but invest in all type of sports. In other countries we have seen perceived minority sports generating income for all stakeholders,“ she said.
On his part, Chigamula said he felt touched that for 10 years the region did not have a sponsor for the game; hence, his coming in.
“The Central Region league has been struggling to find stable sponsorship for such a long time and as someone who loves the game, I thought it proper to come in and assist.
“I have big plans for the game of pool in the region and this is just the first step. I plan to invest K1 million [$1 443] next year and K5 million [$7 215] in 2018. This is a popular sport among the youth and there is need to support it,” he said.
CRPL chairperson Franco Banda urged teams to be disciplined during match days so as not to bring the game of pool into disrepute, and at the same time, win the confidence of the sponsors.
