The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has said as a way of maximising gate revenue, it will not issue complimentary tickets for Saturday’s 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Mali.
Usually, FAM offers free tickets to sponsors, partners, government and some football officials during international matches as one way of fostering good working relationship.
But FAM chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda said they cannot afford such luxury at a time they are battling a severe cash squeeze.
Nyirenda announced that pre-sale of entry tickets for the match starts today at Chiwembe Technical Centre, Steers Debonairs, Blantyre Youth Centre and Kamuzu Stadium.
“People should be ready to pay and there are others who have the tendency of calling the association asking for complimentary tickets, we would like to urge them to buy the tickets to assist the cause of their national team,” said Nyirenda.
He said the association’s staff will be the ones selling the tickets while management of the gates will be outsourced.
He also urged companies to buy boards for perimeter advertising.
“The match will be beamed live on SuperSport 3 and this will provide an opportunity to local companies to advertise their products internationally. The boards are going at K500 000 each,” he said.
Due to crippling budgetary constraints, FAM has been forced to reduce the budget of the two remaining qualifiers to K50 million from K62 million.
FAM targets to raise K10 million from the Mali game.
