Police in Blantyre have arrested three people for allegedly selling counterfeit tickets for the TNM Super League Blantyre derby involving FCB Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Wanderers at Kamuzu Stadium on Sunday.
Sources indicate that police have also impounded the minibus which the three and their leader were using for selling the tickets.
However, the group’s leader allegedly fled the scene after he spotted police at Shoprite, where they were selling the tickets.
But his associates were caught unawares.
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Southern Region Police deputy spokesperson Beatrice Mikuwa confirmed the development, saying three people were netted.
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“The three have been arrested and investigations are underway. I cannot provide more details as they might jeopardise investigations,” Mikuwa said.
According to our sources, police from the Criminal Investigations Department got suspicious after scanning machines rejected some tickets, prompting them to examine them.
“Upon examining the rejected tickets, it was observed that tickets had a similar barcode of 2117. The CIDs were swift and tracked the suspects, where they apprehended the three. Their leader fled but he was seen and police will launch a hunt to capture him because he is a well-known person from Lilongwe in football circles,” the source said.
The derby grossed K138 million, falling short of the K154 million it made during the first round.
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Each team pocketed K32,186,398.75, with stadium owners collecting K29,260,362.50.
The Super League of Malawi got K11,704,145 whereas both Football Association of Malawi and Malawi National Council of Sports each took home K5,852,072.50.
Private security and police services also benefitted, with K1,300,000 and K1,424,000, respectively, getting into their pockets.
Meanwhile, Wanderers President Thomson Mpinganjira has expressed dissatisfaction with the gross but hailed his side for winning.
“The derby is always the most important fixture in the season and winning it, as Wanderers have, done at 3-0 is a big statement. I am told the last time that margin happened was 17 years ago in 2008. Of course, Wanderers beat Bullets 1-0 in the first-round derby match. Congratulations to the boys and technical panel for a job well executed. Great news for supporters, who are always with the team.
“I was just disappointed that this derby grossed only K138 million. Our first-round home derby grossed K154 million,” Mpinganjira said.
However, Bullets Chief Executive Officer Albert Chigoga said they were satisfied with the revenue.
“We are very happy. We cannot ask for more despite failing to attain the K150 million that we wanted,” Chigoga said.
