The organising committee of the 2025 Premier Bet International Legends Cup has disclosed that this year’s competition has left them with a K3 million loss due to poor patronage.
Following the development, the tournament’s organising committee is yet to pay some of the Match Day service providers.
The Legends Cup—which attracted retired players for Zimbabwean side Dynamos FC and three Malawian clubs namely FCB Nyasa Big Bullets, Mighty Wanderers and Silver—was staged at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre over the weekend.
However, Chairperson for the Legends Cup Organising Committee, Kevin Moyo, said they had a deficit of about K3 million on the business front, having registered K5 million profit during last year’s tournament.
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Moyo observed that apart from low turnout, the withdrawal of prospective sponsors at the eleventh hour contributed to the decline in revenue.
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“The event managers had already included their sponsorship pledges into the budget. As such, when they pulled back, we were left with no option [but to go ahead with the tournament]. We are yet to pay most Match Day service providers. The good thing is that we managed to pay for critical things like accommodation and transport for travelling teams,” Moyo said.
He said they had learnt a bitter lesson and that, going forward, they would rotate the cup into other regions while considering involving legends of high-profile clubs such as Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and TP Mazembe.
Despite the setback, Moyo said this year’s tournament was huge, with Dynamos bringing former Sundowns playmaker Cuthbert Malajila and former Zimbabwe player of the year Evans Gwekwerere.
Meanwhile, football analyst George Kaudza Masina has blamed the organisers for poor timing.
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“Legends’ matches are more of social football [than football football]. It is important to look at the football calendar. Scheduling their matches on a weekend when the Flames were playing a match was more of a gamble. Weather conditions were not conducive either. Otherwise, the idea is, and will always be, good but the timing was not right,” Kaudza Masina said.
Bullets legends won the second edition of the cup after beating Silver Strikers’ legends 3-1 in the final.
