Ecobank FAM Charity Shield to Target Floods Victims

The 2020 Ecobank FAM Charity Shield will target the education sector by reaching out to the survivors of the 2019 Cyclone Idai in the Lower Shire district of Chikwawa.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) President Walter Nyamilandu disclosed this on Wednesday during the unveiling ceremony of Shield’s fifth edition at Ecobank’s headquarters in Blantyre.

Nyamilandu said FAM will do something different from last year by reaching out to the victims of the deadly Cyclone Idai.

“The 2020 Ecobank FAM Charity Shield focus is on advocating for quality education for all in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 4 .This year’s Shield is being held under the theme, ‘Together for Better Education’.

“Using proceeds from the Ecobank FAM Charity Shield, we desire to help in the area of education particularly for the primary going pupils who are failing to access education because of the long distance to their previous school situated in the flood prone areas from which they have reallocated.

“The situation is being compounded because the only viable road, which takes one hour to walk to the school is impassable due to flooding of river Shire.

If nothing is not going to be done now, we risk condemning the whole school going generation of Mwalija village into further abyss of untold poverty and miserly and this is why we have decided to partner them to make a positive impact,” said Nyamilandu.

The FIFA Council Member hailed Ecobank for the continuous support towards the event.

“Ecobank deserves a big round of applause. They could have chosen not to come back or to maintain the sponsorship package at K12 million.

“But today, they have displayed unwavering commitment towards the FAM Charity Shield by increasing the sponsorship by 50% from K12 million to K18 million.

This package will go along way to meet the demands that go with staging the event and we can only show our gratitude by committing our support as well to the growth of your business,” he said.

The bank’s Head of Commercial Victoria Chanza said they decided to continue the partnerships with FAM after being impressed with the impact last year’s event made on lives of people living with albinism.

In the 2019 edition, FAM in partnership with Ecobank, donated a Ford Ranger with a trailer worth K14 million to the Association of People with Albinism (APAM).

The Shield will be played on 4 and 5 April 2020 and will involve Nyasa Big Bullets, Blue Eagles, Silver Strikers and Be Forward Wanderers.

Four time winners and defending champions Nyasa Big Bullets will face rivals Be Forward Wanderers in the first semifinal while Silver Strikers will entertain Eagles in the second game.

The Charity Shield is the flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program for Football Association of Malawi which aims to engage, mobilize and inspire football fans, stakeholders and the public towards a charitable cause of national significance.