Sulom settles refs’ dues

Despite the National Football Referees Committee (NFRC) outcry over their officiation dues, it has transpired that the balance from the initial K4.5 million that they were offered by Super League of Malawi (Sulom), was only K300 000.

The referees’ body last week rejected a K4.5 million cheque from Sulom and even threatened to boycott the flagship league opening matches unless they were paid a total of K5 160 000 which they claimed, was the shortfall.

But after calculations that involved the two parties, it emerged that Sulom owed the referees K4.8 million and not K5.16 million.

The referees body softened up and agreed to officiate the matches following the intervention of Sulom president Innocent Bottoman who met them on the eve of the kick off.

NFRA general secretary Chris Kalichero yesterday admitted the figure came down after deducting dues for some of the games involving Max Bullets who withdrew in the course of the season

“What is important is that they [Sulom] paid us all our dues following a fruitful meeting which we had with their president.

“It is always important to give contact and dialogue a chance and in the end, football won. The referees should be rest assured that they will be paid on Monday [today],” he said.

Sulom treasurer Tiya Somba-Banda said the issue would not have reached that far had the referees been understanding.

“Now, as you have rightly heard, the difference was only K300 000 which we would have paid them without a fuss,” he said. n