Stakeholders have expressed dissatisfaction with the K90,821,900 realised in gate revenue from Sunday’s FDH Bank Premiership Blantyre derby at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe, with suspicions mounting that millions of Kwacha were lost through fake tickets, Times Sport has learnt.
Unauthorised entry routes and the controversial use of an unregistered gate management firm contributed to the low revenue— even as FCB Nyasa Big Bullets claimed a 2-1 victory over Mighty Wanderers in the pulsating encounter.
The figure has been widely condemned as a gross underrepresentation of the massive crowd that turned up for the high-profile fixture, and it has triggered an immediate wave of anger across the football fraternity, with clubs, league officials and government all demanding urgent answers.
According to the gate sheet, K48,488,000 was realised in pre-match ticket sales while K42,333,900 was collected on match day.
Both Bullets and Wanderers walked away with K18,306,922 each, with the ground levy accounting for K16,642,656.
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The Super League of Malawi (Sulom) pocketed K6,657,062 while the Football Association of Malawi (Fam) received K3,328,531.
The figures, however, told a story that few stakeholders were willing to accept at face value.
The same fixture, played as a Charity Shield at the very same Bingu National Stadium just months earlier in April, grossed K108 million—a full K17 million more.
More damning still, when the two sides met at Kamuzu Stadium in May 2025, the gate revenue soared to an impressive K154 million, with each club pocketing K36.7 million.
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Even the second-round meeting at Kamuzu Stadium in October, which slightly dipped, still generated K138.2 million.
Sulom Vice General Secretary Donnex Chilonga has since painted a disturbing picture of what unfolded on match day, pointing to what he described as a deliberate syndicate operating within the match-day security apparatus.
“What is clear is the use of fake tickets and security officers opening uncharted routes to allow spectators to access the stadium.
“From the look of things, it is a syndicate. People create chaos deliberately and use the same as a scapegoat,” he said.
Chilonga revealed that Sulom is now conducting a full investigation and hinted at a radical solution to prevent a repeat of the same.
“Probably it’s high time Sulom did the ticket printing on our own,” he said.
FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Chief Executive Officer Albert Chigoga left no doubt about his club’s position, demanding a thorough probe into the matter.
“We, as Bullets, will push for a thorough and thoughtful investigation, as this clearly smacks of ineffective game management and lacklustre match-day security. This is very disgusting,” Chigoga said.
Macmillan Mwale, spokesperson for the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development, also weighed in, calling for urgent and coordinated action among all stakeholders to plug the haemorrhaging of gate revenue.
“We need strong collaboration with stakeholders to look at this issue as it is making us lose millions of Kwacha in revenue,” Mwale said.
On the field, Bullets delivered a performance to match the occasion.
Blessings Mpokera and Gastin Phodo were the heroes for Bullets, scoring the goals that sealed victory for the People’s Team, while Promise Kamwendo pulled one back for the Nomads in what was a fiercely contested encounter.
