Goshen Trust, co-sponsors of Fam National Women’s Championship Friday lived up to its promise when it handed over K21 million meant to support the tournament to be staged next month in Lilongwe.
This comes just a week after the tournament which was scheduled for April 22- 28 in Lilongwe was postponed at the eleventh hour.
The K21 million is part of the K60 million sponsorship package which Goshen announced in September last year meant to support the growth of the game in the country.
Through the sponsorship package, Goshen already provided K29 million which was meant for the Malawi Women’s National Football Team trip for the 2023 Cosafa Women’s Championship in South Africa.
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On the other hand, a total of K10 million was for the game bonuses for the Scorchers during the tournament.
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Before the announcement Friday, the Scorchers also presented the Cosafa Women’s Championship trophy which they won following a 2-1 victory over Zambia in October last year, to Bushiri in appreciation for the support.
Goshen Visionaire Prophet Shepherd Bushiri said he was committed to change the landscape of women’s football in the country.
“We believed in the team through our sponsorship. We are happy that the team made everyone proud. Goshen and everyone is proud to be associated with the success stories of women’s football,’’ Bushiri said.
Bushiri said he was previously disappointed with Fam’s conduct, who showed lack of respect to the sponsors on two occasions.
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“After the Scorchers won the trophy, we heard nothing from Fam. We tried to reach out to them but there was completely no further communication. But today [Friday], the problem has been sorted out. This is not the first time for Fam to behave in that way, we sponsored Flames with K50 million in 2016 but after the win they did not show up again,” Bushiri said.
Fam President Fleetwood Haiya ate a humble pie by apologising to Goshen for what happened in the past.
“In all sense, we were supposed to come here immediately after winning the Cosafa Cup to thank him for his support. We regret what happened,” Haiya said.
Haiya also hailed Goshen for allowing Fam to find another partner for the championship.
“We promise Goshen that the investment in football will not go in vain. We are going to promote Goshen,’’ he added.
National Women’s Football Association Chairperson Adellaide Migogo was relieved with the gesture shown by Goshen.
“I can now breathe a sigh of relief. This is the day we had been waiting for,” Migogo said.
Fam is expected to release new dates for the championship.
Ten teams will take part in the championship. Kukoma Ntopwa are the defending champions.
