Women football decries lack of sponsorship

Tom Sangala October 20, 2015

368 1 minute read

National Women Football Committee (NWFC) has lamented the lack of corporate support to the sport in the country.

During the national finals of Fifa-Fam Cup at Chiwembe Technical Centre on Sunday, Chalira said the sport was being overlooked by the private sector in terms of support.

“We have knocked on many doors for support but only a few show commitment to support the sport. The girls do not have opportunity to play a lot of tournaments in order to develop their game. We have sent two players to Europe and that shows we have talent in the country,” she said.

Tabitha Chawinga is leading scorer in Swedish women second tier league with 34 goals and her club Kvarnsveden IK leads the league standings.

Chisomo Kazisonga plays for NOSV Neulengbach reserve side in Austria.

Currently, there are no women football leagues across the country and the Fifa-Fam Cup is the only active annual competition with the Presidential Cup not a guarantee.

Fifa funds the cup to the tune of K10 million through Football Association of Malawi (Fam).

The format this year was changed from an Under-20 competition to accommodate all players that were inactive.

It was not long ago that women’s football enjoyed massive support with leagues in all regions and cup competitions such as Donnas Eggs, Matindi Women’s Cup and Presidential Cup.

The clubs are also owned by individuals who pump in their own resources.

Chalira observed that the situation poses a big challenge to the establishment of a strong national team because the players would be dormant for a long period.

The national team, which has been dormant for three years, is currently in camp preparing for an international friendly against Tanzania in Lilongwe next Saturday.

Meanwhile, Blantyre Zero have preserved their status as the country’s women’s football Queens after winning the Fifa- Fam Cup for the third straight season.

They beat Ntopwa Super Queens 3-2 on post-match penalties in Sunday’s final.

Ntopwa defeated Moyale Sisters 3-1 in the semifinal while Blantyre Zero defeated DD Sunshine 1-0 to reach the final.

The final ended goal-less and it had to be decided through post-match penalties where Blantyre Zero seemed to have handled the apparent pressure better.

“We are happy that we have won again. It was not an easy ride that is why the game was decided through a penalty shoot-out. The girls deserve the success because they worked hard for it,” said Blantyre Zero coach Karen Chawula.

Ntopwa had some consolation in that their forward Vanessa Chipukira won the Golden Boot award with three goals in two matches during the finals.

Pilirani Malola of Blantyre Zero won the player-of-the-tournament award. Both players received K30,000 each.

Blantyre Zero received K1 million for their triumph and K750,000 for Ntopwa. Third-placed DD Sunshine received K500,000 while Moyale pocketed K250,000.