Malawi, Tanzania match grosses K7 million

Malawi national football team game in the World Cup qualifier preliminary round second leg against Tanzania on Sunday played at Kamuzu Stadium only managed to raise a meager K7 million gross from gate collection.

Football Association of Malawi (Fam) General Secretary Suzgo Nyirenda attributed the meager revenue to among other things the team`s first leg 2-0 loss in Dar-es-Salaam a Wednesday.

Nyirenda also said the beaming of the match by state television station Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) and Supersport affected the patronage of the match.

He said FAM has printed 22,000 tickets but most of them were not sold which has been a concern to the cash-strapped association.

“We printed 22,000 tickets but we did not sell much. And we are very worried because we needed to use the gate collection to meet some of the costs,” he said.

“The team`s performance in Dar-es-Salaam was also a concern as it disappointed the fans to come in large numbers.”

Most of the seats in the stands were empty as Malawi`s 1-0 win over Tanzania fell short of taking the hosts to another round against Algeria as they tried in vain chasing for at least a second goal which would have forced the game into extra time.