Nzika Floods Response,  organisers of the two-day Pamtsetse Football Bonanza, says a mafia-style syndicate that frustrates gate management at football stadiums dealt a blow to achievement of its K50 million target.

Nzika Floods Response team leader Gift Nankhuni said the event, hosted at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe on Saturday and Sunday to raise funds for survivors of Tropical Cyclone Ana, realised K40 268 000.  He said  the revenue could have surpassed the targeted K50 million if it were not for the syndicate.

Fans watch Silver Strikers and Mighty Wanderers in the final of the bonanza

He said the syndicate used unconventional means to collect money from fans to enter the stadium and watch the bonanza which attracted the country’s top four clubs, namely Nyasa Big Bullets, Mighty Wanderers, Silver Strikers and Civil Sporting Club.

Nankhuni, a private practice lawyer, said: “On Saturday, it was worse. On Sunday, we tried to control things and there was some improvement.  We are very worried. There is this mafia-style syndicate that ensures that the money from the gate goes into their pockets. So many dubious things happen at the gates. This is very sad because most of the money from the gates goes to this mafia.”

He pleaded with government and Football Association of Malawi [FAM] to ensure that the country embraces electronic ticketing to improve gate management.

Nankhuni said: “If only we had e-ticketing at our stadiums, we could get rid of this mafia syndicate that is terrorising the gates.”

However, despite the disappointment at the gates, Nzika Floods Response has vowed to return to football.

Nankhuni said: “We now have an idea how things work in football’s gate management. We came into the bonanza not knowing all these things. We will be back and we hope to improve things.”

In a statement, Nzika Floods Response thanked sponsors TNM plc and NBS Bank plc, saying it will ensure the proceeds from the two-day bonanza reach the beneficiaries.

Reads the statement in part: “Nzika will transparently work alongside the Department of Disaster Management Affairs to support affected people.”

The Pamtsetse Football Bonanza concerns come just some days after Ministry of Youth and Sports announced plans to introduce Automated Gate Management Policy which will see Bingu National Stadium hosting e-ticketing servers that will link all the country’s major stadiums.

The project, which is also one of Malawi National Council of Sports’ reform areas, will be implemented at an estimated cost of K300 million.

Director of sports Jameson Ndalama told our sister  newspaper  Weekend Nation that plans to implement the project are now at an advanced stage as they await funding from government in 2023/24 Budget.

He said: “Ministry of Sports will be responsible for the installation of the hardware and software at the hub at the Bingu National Stadium.

“The other stadiums will simply buy their gadgets to be fitted at their facilities. All the data captured will be transmitted and processed at the Bingu National Stadium server.”

FAM president Walter Nyamilandu said Bingu National Stadium has loopholes that make gate management a nightmare.

“I wish this [e-ticketing] was prioritised at Bingu National Stadium because entry to the stadium is not well controlled,” he said.

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