The proud moment
* Champions set to receive K3 million with K2 million for runners-up and K1 million for third place
* The sport can develop into a force to reckon as evidenced by the positive achievement the national team has attained
* They are ahead with a 3-2 home win of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Beach Soccer qualifiers against Tanzania
* HTD Limited is our lucky charm ahead of the second leg qualifier against Tanzania—Nyamilandu
By Duncan Mlanjira
Most championships for Malawi beach soccer have been one-off with different takers as sponsorship partners but the sport has now landed a landmark K20 million support from one of the country’s top car dealers, HTD Limited for a solid national league, to be called HTD Beach Soccer Championship.
The champions are set to receive K3 million with K2 million for runners-up and K1 million for third place while other prizes are expected to be announced at the official kick off of the tournament in September.
And this is not the first time for HTD to sponsor beach football as the company has ever partnered with Football Association of Malawi (FAM) in some of the one-off tournaments, the most notable being in 2010, whose champions were flown to South Africa as one of their prizes — to watch the opening match of the FIFA World Cup between Bafana Bafana and Mexico.
At the official unveiling of the sponsorship on Wednesday at HTD’s state-of-the-art car showroom at Ginnery Corner in Blantyre, Chief Executive Officer, Harris Sidik reminisced how he was proud that the 2010 winners — who were treated with the trip to the 2010 South Africa FIFA World Cup — were village boys from that tournament’s host district, Mangochi.
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He said what the team achieved by being champions in a relatively newly established sport then, was ample evidence that given more support, it will certainly develop into strong sport in the country.
What Sidik indicated that the sport can develop into a force to reckon with has also been evidenced by the positive achievement the national team has attained as they are ahead with a 3-2 home win of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Beach Soccer qualifiers against Tanzania.
The team is currently in camp preparing for the second leg to be played in Dar es Salaam this weekend as they eye for their qualification to the finals to be hosted by Mozambique this month.
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Sidik said he has always been passionate about the game and when he heard through the media FAM president Walter Nyamilandu’s plea for sponsorship, he did not hesitate to consider supporting having done so previously and reveling on the success of the village team from Mangochi.
“Through this sponsorship, we want to enhance the quality of beach soccer in Malawi so that its national team can compete favourably in international tournaments,” he said.
He also took cognizance that beach soccer has the potential to attract tourism — both local and international since it is mostly played along the shores of the great Lake Malawi.
“This is a fusion of sports, tourism, entertainment and culture and HTD Limited is proud to be part of that development.”
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In his vote of thanks, chairperson of Malawi Beach Soccer Association, Gift Chimbalanga said this sponsorship would arouse extra morale for the national team ahead of the second leg in Dar es Salaam and reveled in the fact that players would now be well rewarded for their participation in the sport.
“The village boys that won the 2010 championship that HTD sponsored were a team that I formed and, indeed, what you did for the boys was something they have cherished since then.
“We will go to Dar es Salaam charged up and you should expect us to qualify for the AFCON finals. This is what the players have promised — that they are not going to Tanzania for sightseeing but to deliver good results,” he said.
In his remarks, Nyamilandu said this is a sponsorship that he had waited for for a long time, saying as a wholly Malawian owned company, HTD has shown that it is a true corporate patriot of this country.
“We didn’t have national competitive league but just for zones in Mangochi, Salima, Nkhotakota and Nkhata Bay which had localized tournaments. This is a revolution in beach soccer.
“What HTD has done has inspired us at FAM to consider accepting constant requests that we have had from COSAFA to host its regional tournament.
“The talent is positively being grown and as Malawians, let’s grow this game together because it has the potential to qualify for the FIFA World Beach Soccer Cup. We will need to construct infrastructure along the beach soccer playing districts and we can only do that if we acquire other partners like HTD has done.
“HTD Limited is our lucky charm ahead of the second leg qualifier against Tanzania because it will give our players the extra impetus to qualify for the AFCON,” he said, while acknowledging that in these tough economic times, it was not easy for the company to part away with a cool K20 million.
Sidik also disclosed when he approached his financial controller to consider supporting beach soccer with such solid sponsorship, he was reluctant until the CEO suggested that part of the money funds would come from his own personal funds.
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