Haiya dismisses unfounded rumours that he is clinging on his former post as Nyasa Big Bullets vice-president

* There are some people who are just enemies of the progress with a zeal of bringing down others

* Whenever they see them performing and delivering what they promised to the public

By Victor Singano Jnr

Super League of Malawi (SULOM) president, Fleetwood Haiya has described rumours that he is clinging on his former post as Nyasa Big Bullets vice-president as mere propaganda and football politics — whose main agenda is to tarnish his image and create divisions among teams who trusted him with the SULOM position.

This follows unsubstantiated statements being circulated on some social media platforms, which are indicating that he is still holding the position at the Super League outfit, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets despite his promise to resign immediately after taking the SULOM mantle.

Thus in an interview with Maravi Express, Haiya described the rumours as mere propaganda, saying he has been made to understand that there are some people who are just enemies of the progress with a zeal of bringing down others whenever they see them performing and delivering what they promised to the public.

“When I was elected as SULOM president at Nkopola Lodge in Mangochi this year,  I clearly announced my resignation on the post I had at Bullets because that was what I was supposed to do in the first place to avoid any interference.

“And I also made this promise to all the SULOM affiliates because I also wanted to concentrate on making our league which was on the deathbed vibrant by rebranding, reviving as well reforming it.

“Yes, we are in a democratic era but the tendency of just waking up and start damaging other people’s reputation is uncalled for and sometimes it is better to find out the truth of the matter before rushing on social media with half-baked information,” he said.

Haiya was voted SULOM president on February 25 after beating Tiya Somba Banda with 30 votes against 18.

In June, in reflecting on his performance of his 90 days since he took the SULOM presidency, Haiya pledged to make sure that teams participating in the top flight league are financially stable.

He told a press briefing that his leadership will help clubs realize more revenue and this season, they will roll out financial literacy training for club officials as well as players as one way of empowering them.

“It is also worth noting that all Super League clubs will receive K9 million for their operational activities of which K4.5 million has already been given out and this is contrary to the past decades whereby teams were struggling to fulfill commitments,” he had said.

He further called on the Government, the corporate world and other stakeholders to support efforts towards reforming Malawi’s football, saying they will get value for their investment.

In May, SULOM launched an e-ticketing platform in collaboration with its top flight league sponsor, TNM Plc, which is the first of its kind in Malawi, which will use Mpamba debit card to replace cash at gates during TNM Super League matches.

This is a plus for Haiya who has been a proponent for improved gate management and match revenue maximisation, which was part of his manifesto during the campaign for the presidency.

He had highlighted in his manifesto that challenges being faced in game and gate management was failure to embrace digital platforms and leveraging on existing e-networks.

Malawi National Council of Sports followed suit by announcing that it is set to adopt report findings of the taskforce committee on revenue from gate collections which it constituted and highly recommended the football authorities to embrace E-ticketing in all facilities.

Board chairperson, Sunduzwayo Madise emphasized that E-ticketing is the only solution that can help in curbing gate fraud and theft at football matches.

Madise admitted that the increase in fraud and theft in gate revenue is rampant in the country and put the football development at a risk as it is, among other things, making players suffer since their welfare is not improving.

Instead of benefiting from their sweat, Madise said it was sad that it is only those who are involved in fraud and theft who enjoy the money — adding that the problem is also forcing potential sponsors to stay away from football in order to protect their brand.

He described the report as “packed with facts that are really restricting our game to develop and for these challenges to be completely eliminated it will take time as it is a big system or culture but if all football stakeholders can work in collaboration we can easily deal with it”.

“Yes, it can take time because those behind these loopholes will be definitely fighting back but as Sports Council, we are impressed with the report and will adopt it because we believe that the E-ticketing procedure recommended in the report is indeed the best solution,” Madise said.—Additional reporting by Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express