* Nothing, no explanation — something just doesn’t add up
TNM came in to support the country’s elite Super League some 18 years ago which was a valiant decision since at that time the corporate world had abandoned football due to escalating cases of violence at matches.
The whole nation breathed a huge sign of relief; the pioneer mobile communication service provider was given a profound huge pat on the back; and the glamour associated with football rose to a top level.
Gone but not forgotten
Today, TNM has disappeared from the football scene — just like that; swoosh and with it the name we have associated top football with for three decades — the Super League now re-branded to the Premiership. Again no explanation as to why it was decided that the name should change to being the Premiership.
Last December, founding member of the Super League, Sunduzwayo Madise, explained why they came up with this name. The founders, that included Henry Chibowa, then secretary of Mighty Wanderers and Gaston Mwenelupembe, Bullets secretary — dwelt on forming a national league; a single, elite competition modeled loosely on South Africa’s Premier Soccer League (PSL).
It was to bring together the best clubs from Premier Divisions of the three top leagues: the Southern Region’s Premier League, Lilongwe & Districts Football League, and Mzuzu & Districts Football League. However, “the name Premier League was already spoken for by Blantyre’s elite league” — thus they opted for the Super League.
I guess the re-branding to the Premiership is because the Premier Division no longer exude the same reverence it had back then that produced the top notch international football stars of all time.
It is time to move on a become the professional league it is supposed to be under the slogan ‘Transforming the Game’ after FAM established the National Division League (NDL) as the country’s second tier football system.
Without farewell fanfare after 18 years of supporting Malawi’s elite football league, TNM has faded away and in place is the FDH Bank to support the Premiership through a 5-year partnership with the Super League of Malawi (SULOM) — annual package of K5 billion.
According to our impeccable sources, it seems TNM Plc management was becoming big headed in that it was not responding to SULOM executive committee’s call for a business meeting to map the way forward in ‘Transforming the Game’.
Thus the elite football governing body searched elsewhere for sponsorship support and landed the whopping K5 billion support from FDH Bank in which champions shall receive K200 million. TNM signs off at K500 million per season and that is why SULOM wanted to engage the telco to consider increasing the sponsorship.
My thoughts on sponsorship deals is that if we are to ‘transform the game’, we need to raise managerial and marketing standards. I believe what has happened, through the coming in of FDH Bank Plc — though it is extremely monumental — should provide SULOM with some food for thought in that they cannot afford to be dictated to.
Advertisement
SULOM should own the copyrights of the re-branded name of ‘The Premiership’ in that it should allow different business players an opportunity to take part in many ways possible, such as brand advertising billboards around pitches during games.
This is what we see with, for example, the Betway South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) or England’s Barclays Premier League. All other corporates have the opportunity to be visible through advertising by displaying their marketing billboards around the pitch.
In this way, the main sponsor — in our case FDH Bank — enjoys prominence and with so many business players available, the lead sponsor cannot afford to become dictatorial unless there is a breach of contract.
Signing a 5-year contract should come with a re-negotiation clause, not just open-ended and at the end of the specified contract period, SULOM is supposed to advertise for tenders for interested sponsors.
Football is big business. Sponsors scramble to be associated with the Beautiful Game. The just ended Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) Morocco 2025 had multiple sponsors along with the lead TotalEnergies — all invested millions of US$.
And I have always mentioned it that our clubs’ name should remain as they are, such as Mighty Wanderers, Nyasa Big Bullets, Mighty Tigers, Dedza Dynamos, Mzuzu City Hammers, Chitipa United, Karonga United, etc.
Once a sponsor is identified, the name should not be changed to add the sponsor’s name just like Mighty Wanderers opted to. The sponsor’s name is imbedded on the team’s match and replica jerseys.
Nyasa Big Bullets add FCB ahead of their name and once First Capital Bank would decided to part ways, another would come and be called Duncan Mlanjira Nyasa Big Bullets and so on.
How many times have Wanderers changed names — Yamaha to Limbe Leaf; Telecom; Mukuru to just Mighty Wanderers. Bullets from Bata, Bakili, Total, Nyasa to FCB. Tigers from ADMARC, Wakawaka to Mighty. We can’t ’Transform the Game’ this way.
But hey, congratulations to SULOM for landing this mega sponsorship from FDH Bank Plc, who also support our dear national football team, the Flames. FDH Bank has indeed redefined the landscape of our football system by including a K100 million player welfare fund that will allow players to access loans throughout the season to assist them with various aspects of development.
It’s also sweet music to the ear to hear that further to this, FDH Bank will register all squad players (maximum of 30) participating in the FDH Premiership under FDH Basic Life Plan for the 2026 season as a way of securing their welfare.
This is the way to go, folks. By the way, did I miss something — what happens to the FDH Bank Cup?
Advertisement