First Capital Bank (FCB) has hiked its National Youth Football Association (NYFA) sponsorship to K58 million from last year’s K45 million.
NYFA uses the money to organize the National Youth Football League every year.
Announcing the increase in Blantyre Wednesday, the bank’s Head of Marketing Twikale Chirwa said the move demonstrates their commitment to developing football from the grassroots across the country.
“We are the backbone of Super League football in the country and we are committed to feeding the top flight league with top talent from all the districts in Malawi. We therefore expect stiff competition among the teams this year,” Chirwa said.
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NYFA executive member Gomezgani Mkandawire hailed the bank for its commitment to developing football in the country.
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“The sponsorship will help us to unearth more hidden talent from all over the country. And in a bid to further develop the game and make it more competitive, we have changed this year’s format from district to regional level.
“The new arrangement is that we will have the best selected players at district level to compete at regional level. So it will be the regions competing at national level,” Mkandawire said.
Football Association of Malawi (Fam) Technical Manager James Sangala hailed FCB for investing more resources into the game.
“As an association, we have revised the way we used to administer the league in terms of data keeping. We will from this year involve scouts right from the district up to regional level in order to keep all the best talent. We will also invite officials from Super League teams during the national finals for them to appreciate the talent on offer,” Sangala said.
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Mulanje Boma Park will host this year’s regional finals for the South while Mzuzu Stadium will be the venue for Northern Region teams, with Central Region teams battling it out in Nkhotakota.
This year’s national champions will go back home K1.4 million richer with the losing finalist getting K1 million.
The third-placed team will pocket K600,000 while the team to finish on position four will receive K400,000.
Some 173 teams are taking part in this year’s tournament.
Northern Region’s Chikago FC won the championship last year after beating Manchester Motors from the South 2-1.
