Capital Oil Refining Industries (Cori), through its Kukoma Cooking Oil product, on Tuesday fulfilled its MK5 million pledge to the Malawi National Football Team, the Flames, for beating Uganda and qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations Finals
Prior to the Flames’ last AFCON qualifying match against Uganda last month, Cori promised to give the Flames K5 Million if they beat Uganda and qualify for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Flames went on to beat Uganda 1-0 at Kamuzu Stadium on March 29, courtesy of a Richard Mbulu’s 15-minute header to qualify for continental biannual competition which will take place in Cameroun next January.
Speaking during a cheque presentation ceremony at Amaryllis Hotel in Blantyre, Cori Sponsorship Coordinator Violet Kapolo said her company is excited to be associated with the Flames and pledged continued support to the team.
“As Cori, we are very excited with the Flames’ win and AFCON qualification. We support sports and have a Netball Team that we sponsor and now we are into football.
We believe that coming into football is a good venture for us because the Flames have delivered what we wanted. So we will be there for Flames as they prepare for both 2021 AFCON finals as well as the 2022 World Cup qualifiers,” she said.
In his remarks FAM President Walter Nyamilandu Manda hailed Cori for fulfilling their promise saying FAM wants to go into a long-term partnership with the company.
“What Cori has done is a very recommendable gesture and this will go a long way in motivating the players . It is also encouraging to us that we have partners that are watching the game.
“There is a lot of money at stake before the Flames play in the AFCON finals as well as the World Cup qualifiers so we are appealing to both the government and the Corporate World for assistance. We are happy that Cori has come forward and opened the door for us,” said Nyamilandu.
