Mitra saves Ndirande Icons from disbanding: Now call them Mitra Icons
Malawi’s second tier football league promising team Ndirande Icons has been saved from the verge of disbanding due to financial constraints by Malawi’s market research company, Market Insights Tracking (Mitra).
The team is currently leading the country’s Southern Region Football League’s Premier Division, which is sponsored by Masters Security Services.
Mitra’s Managing Director Albert Chigoga said Mitra has the desire to run the team as a professional entity to compete all the way into the top flight TNM Super League.
“Despite the team participating in the second tier league of Malawi football, this team is ambitious and resilient and I see nothing stopping us from achieving this dream of qualifying into the Super League,” Chigoga said.
He said it was Malawi’s former prolific striker Heston Munthali who tipped one of the team’s administrator and coach, Fletcher Chirwa, to approach Chigoga for possible assistance when the team was planning to deregister itself from league participation because of financial constraints.
“Fletcher is one of the team’s coaches and he was the sole financier of the club. He spoke to my football coordinator, Heston Munthali, who asked him to approach me because Heston knows we have always harboured the desire to contribute towards football development in whatever capacity.
“There were more than two teams that approached us for sponsorship but after weighing all the options , Ndirande Icons became our ultimate choice.
“We decided on Ndirande Icons because it is a team full of blossoming talent with mostly young people from Ndirande, the location famous with its versatility. My vision in sports is very great. We would like to run Mitra Icons as a professional entity despite it being in the regional league.
“This team will fight all the way into the Super League and will make its own history in Malawi football . We are providing the team with everything required for a football team to excel,” said Chigoga, who is now the chairman of the club.
Mitra has also provided a practising medical practitioner as a team doctor and it is also paying the coaching staff and meeting the crucial needs of players.
Coach Fletcher Chirwa has been running the club since it started in 2002 and Heston Munthali helps as a technical advisor.
They are leading a 22 member premier league with 26 points from 11 games.
Mitra recently won an international award for its excellence, track record and its adherence to and development of its own quality management policies.
The recognition, which is one of the biggest international recognitions for organisational quality in the world, was made by Spain-based Business Initiative Directions (BID).
The marketing research firm based in Blantyre specialises in helping client companies come to some of the most important decisions in business by providing high quality, relevant and properly weighted information, which is gathered according to the highest industry standards.
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