$300,000 pumped into rural soccer

Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika has pumped in a sum of US$300,000 into a first ever countrywide national soccer trophy.

The President would also dress all teams which would reach quarterfinals and semi-finals of district, regional and later national levels of the cup. There is projection that the cup may run up to December this year.

This is believed to have ignited excitement among soccer fanatics coming from background of cup droughts- being blamed for dwindling standards of national team players.

The newly appointed Sports and Youth Development Minister Symon Vuwa Kaunda has confirmed this in Malawi’s commercial capital city Blantyre a week ago.

He said the President is eager to see rural soccer teams come up to represent their areas and fight to their last blood during the trophy.

Apparently the trophy promises to be the second most expensive, to have come from a single sponsor. Currently Topflight league sponsored by a mobile phone company TNM, is worthy slightly US350,000 but is now in the third and last agreed year.

Kaunda says when the trophy is launched the prize money would be distributed in a way that district, regional winners as well as national winners would receive prizes.

Suffice to say figures are yet to be confirmed after consultation with soccer stakeholders across the country.

Topflight teams will be excluded from the district and regional levels and they will join at national level.

The Presidential intervention emerges after cries of lack of sponsorships in football spinning for over five years since 2002 when many sponsors pulled out from football chiefly due to unreasonable government interference, hooliganism during matches, rampant mismanagement and corruption in sports administration.

“Forgive us, the word ‘lack of sponsorship’ does not appear in Bingu’s dictionary, the President is ready to pump money into football, he is also ready to find football sponsors,” said the minister who has secured a total of three cups two with a month in office, one for Netball and two for football.

Kaunda is believed to be among few cabinet members who understand football because he runs a popular football trophy in his home, the lake side area of Khata bay, a place north of Capital city Lilongwe.