FOMO FC’s Mary Woodworth walks free from match-fixing charges after prosecutors stall for years

A football club’s main sponsor accused of corruption and match-fixing has finally been cleared, after magistrates threw out the long-running case that prosecutors astonishingly failed to bring to court for more than two-and-a-half years.

Mary Woodworth, of Friends of Mulanje and chief backer of FOMO Football Club, walked free from the Limbe Dalton Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court after the case against her was discharged and discontinued — bringing a dramatic end to a saga that stretched back to February 2024.

The extraordinary case centred on a decisive Southern Region Football League clash between FOMO FC and Ntopwa — a match that would determine which side qualified for the elite division, then known as the Super League.

Prosecutors alleged that Woodworth was approached by members of the officiating team and asked to hand over a staggering two million kwacha to influence the result in FOMO FC’s favour.

Woodworth firmly refused to pay the alleged bribe — yet astonishingly found herself arrested and slapped with corruption charges regardless.

What followed was an extraordinary delay, with prosecutors failing to bring the case before court for two years and seven months, leaving Woodworth in limbo under the shadow of the allegations.

Her lawyer, Wester Kosamu of Peter and Grant Attorneys, seized on the glaring delay, applying to have the case thrown out under Section 247 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code — a provision designed to protect defendants from prosecutions that drag on indefinitely.

On September 23, 2026, magistrates agreed, granting the application and formally discharging the case — bringing visible relief to Woodworth, who was seen smiling broadly as she left the courtroom.

But the damage caused by the saga had already been done.

The corruption allegations proved catastrophic for FOMO FC, contributing directly to the club losing a lucrative £20,000 sponsorship deal with Kitaid back in April 2024 — a financial blow the club is still counting the cost of, even as its sponsor’s name has now finally been cleared.