Bullets, Wanderers in ‘Vincent Gona’ fundraising  Blantyre derby

Local soccer giants and traditional rivals Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Be Forward Wanderers have joined hands to involve themselves in a fundraising match aimed at raising funds for injured Bullets goal custodian Vincent Gona.

Gona has been on the sidelines for close to ten months after sustaining a back injury and is in need of about K3.6 Million to undergo a surgery at Beit Cure International.

This has prompted the two soccer giants to organize a fundraising match scheduled to take place on Sunday at the Kamuzu Stadium.

According to Big Bullets Head of Marketing Isaac Norman, the player needs about K3.6 million to undergo a successful operation.

But he said they are targeting to raise about K10 million on the day.

“He is expected to undergo surgery at Beit Cure at a tune of K3.6 million and our rivals have accepted our offer to play us in a fundraising match. We target to raise about K10 million” said Norman.

Wanderers Team Manager Steve Madeira said they accepted to play Bullets for the love of the game and to ensure Gona receives proper treatment.

Madeira said the game will help in fine tuning his team.

Madeira further assured fans that it will be a high profile match as usual when the two sides meet despite the fact that both have contributed many of their key players to the national team currently
at the Cosafa tournament in Namibia.

The issue of players welfare has been a talk of the town for so long but little has been done to address the problem.

The players welfare initiative was launched by Football Association of Malawi in line with club licensing requirements but it is not being observed.

On several occasions, Malawian players have been dumped after getting injured and at times lives have been lost in the process.

A good example is that of late Bullets defender Douglas Chirambo who struggled to raise funds to receive treatment abroad as he was reportedly to have had a brain tumour.

Veteran soccer analyst Charles Nyirenda once advised clubs and soccer authorities to consider be serious when handling issues to do with the lives of players.

“We need to be serious with the life of  the players. We have lost many up-and-coming players though injury because we dont give them proper medical attention” Nyirenda was quoted as saying in the press.

Former football star who now serves as Former Players Association Chairman Ojukwu Malunga said it is a pitty that teams with large following like Bullets fail to allocate a small percentage for the
players’ welfare.

“Bullets are a big club and they generate a lot of money during games. It would have been good if they had allocated a small percentage from the gate revenue for the players proper treatment” observed Malunga.

On Sunday, soccer fanatics are asked to bring K1,000.00 to watch the Vincent Gona fundraising Blantyre derby.

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