Malawi Football at Crossroads After FDH Bank Freezes Sponsorship Deals

All is not well in Malawi following a backlash between the country’s football governing body, the Football Association of Malawi (FAM), and its affiliate, the Super League of Malawi (Sulom), which runs the local league.

Their misunderstanding over Kamuzu Stadium has now resulted in league sponsor FDH Bank Plc suspending “all sports-related sponsorships and activities pending review”, a move that has surprised many football stakeholders.

However, FAM president Fleetwood Haiya has told BolaNews that the association will meet the sponsor in a bid to resolve the matter and have the league sponsorship reinstated.

The bone of contention is the status of Kamuzu Stadium, as Sulom fixed a league launch match between Mighty Wanderers and Karonga United at a venue that was condemned by FAM on April 13 following an inspection by the First Instance Body (FIB).

Sulom proceeded to schedule the match on Saturday, with the sponsor decorating the stadium ahead of the launch—spending millions of Malawi kwacha—only for the fixture to collapse after referees, who fall under FAM, failed to officiate.

FAM to engage FDH

Sports minister Alfred Gangata, Sulom president Gilbert Mitawa, FAM president Haiya and other government officials attended the event but were later forced to leave as fans began pelting objects, demanding refunds after it was announced that the match would not take place.

Haiya apologised for the incident to fans, sponsors, and government officials, while promising that FAM will engage the sponsor to find a way forward.

“We will reach out to the sponsor formally and we hope they will come back. It is unfortunate that Sulom proceeded to fix the match despite our communications. We do not know where they are getting these powers,” he said.

Haiya further stated that FAM will summon Sulom to understand why they went against the association’s directives.

The bank has been a major contributor to Malawian football. Apart from a MK5 billion league sponsorship, FDH Bank also supports netball with MK1.2 billion, the Malawi national football team, the Flames, with MK1 billion, Malawi Schools Sports Association with MK360 million, and the Mayor’s Trophy with K22 million.