As we approach the end of the season, we would like to do a general review of the performance of our SULOM Executive.
This is a very general and basic review. A detailed review of the Sulom manifesto/performance will be taking place with each passing week up to the end of the season
SPONSORS/PARTNERS
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- They negotiated the raise of TNM sponsorship to the current 150m
- They negotiated the current Man of the match sponsors
What did the current committee promise?- Multiple sponsors
What has the current committee brought on board?
- Nothing yet
PRIZE MONEY
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- raised winners prize money to current 40m
What did the current committee promise?- Increased prize money
What has the current committer brought on board?
- Nothing so far
MEDICAL INSURANCE
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- worked with FAM to implement current MASM scheme for all Super league players
What has changed?- the current exco criticized the FAM- funded initiative but nothing has changed. They are still relying on FAM to pay monthly premiums for the medical insurance of ALL Super League players
MAN OF THE MATCH AWARDS
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- They secured the current partners
What has changed?- Nothing
FIXTURES
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- fixtures were coming out in piece-meal fashion which made planning difficult. But at least they were synchronized with the FAM calendar
_ Teams would play 2 away games in one weekend as was requested by the clubs themselves during the days of Sulom president Botomani to save costs
What has changed?- current exco has produced a football calendar for whole season but without factoring in international fixtures. Normally and everywhere else, affiliates are supposed to submit their calendars to the FA and it is the FA that produces the synchronized football calendar
- as a result of the lack of synchronization, there is a disparity in the number of games played and too.many midweek games
- elimination of the 2 away games for teams has resulted in high costs for teams
- teams often times are having to spend 2 weeks or so away from home fulfilling fixtures
BROADCASTING RIGHTS
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- continuously worked with FAM to find workable solution, finally ending up with the highly innovative concept of Mpira Tv channel which now just needs ideas on how to improve it further
What has changed?- Nothing
CLUB SUBVENTION
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- apart from the planned increased subvention from TNM after securing an increase in sponsorship to K150m, they also negotiated with FAM for a K100m subvention from which clubs would each be getting an additional K5m
What has changed?- Nothing. The current Exco still relies on the same FAM money and TNM money to meet the clubs’ subventions
INFRASTRUCTURE
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- convinced FAM to put MDC stadium under Sulom management for commercial use
What has changed?- instead of refurbishing MDC stadium into a Super League complex with office complexes, an own stadium, hostels to rent out to visiting teams, hall for hire, etc the current Exco has completely abandoned MDC stadium and even moved the secretariat from there to Ginnery corner
ZAMPIRA PROMOTION
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- turned this promotion into an important source of revenue for the secretatiat
What has changed?- Nothing
REFEREES DUES
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- The referees dues were adequately paid from the Zampira promotion revenues, thereby ending the era of referees’ boycotts due to unpaid dues
What has changed?- Nothing
DIGITALIZATION
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- Embraced Both the DTMS and ITMS which meant both domestic and international transfers plus player registrations were computerized and could be done without clubs having to travel to Blantyre. This was digital centralization
What has changed?- instead of embracing the digital centralization and next coming up with ways to clear cards online etc, they have embarked on physical and manual decentralization, opening physical offices in the regions
FOOTBALLING INTEGRITY
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- fixture changes were explained
- transfers had integrity and followed football rules
What has changed?-fixtures changes not always explained
- allowing one team to loan out 4 players to one team and another 5 players to another team is tantamount to league-sanctioned match-fixing and free 12 points for the loaning team, especially when these players are not allowed to play against their parent team. The loan agreements for these players only specify that the players should be given regular playing time. They do not stipulate that the players can not play against their parent club. But under sulom watch, these players are not allowed to feature against their parent club. In a normal setup, clubs are not allowed to loan out more than 2 players to the same club and in the same league. This is meant to ensure integrity
DELEGATION OF DUTY
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- The GS was the most prominent and visible member of the executive as per his role
What has changed?- The GS and the CEO are less prominent than the president so much so that one even forgets Sulom has a CEO. These days it is the president that is always in the news, even giving out man-of-the-match awards
E-TICKETING
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- previous committee worked with TNM and FAM to come up with an innovative Mpamba-driven e-ticketing project which is at testing phase
What has changed?- Nothing.
- The new Exco might soon be testing the same project that was already initiated by their predecesdors. This should actually have been done by now.
SECRETARIAT
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- moved secretariat from Delamere house to MDC stadium to save costs
- secretariat was lean and lacking in professionalism but at least it was getting the basics done and was being paid from Sulom coffers
What has changed?- secretariat has been beefed up and thats a very positive development
- as mentioned above the secretariat needs to be given the chance to perform
- despite all the antagonism towards FAM in public, they still look to FAM behind the scenes to fund the costs of the secretatiat
CLUB LICENSING/SUPER LEAGUE RESTRUCTURING
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- was initiated and undertaken/being undertaken by FAM under their watch
What has changed?- nothing.
- this process is still continuing under FAM, who have secured expertise from both FIFA and UEFA
RELATIONSHIP WITH FAM
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- father-and-son, very good, open and consultative, reflecting the fact that these 2 bodies always need to work together for football to progress
- the benefits were obvious, like the broadcasting rights venture , the medical scheme, the MDC stadium, the K100m subvention, etc
What has changed?- current sulom is very hostile and antagonistic towards FAM, especially in public, despite being an affiliate. It seems to see itself as a competitor of FAM, not a partner, which can not bode well for our football
- and Sulom has no consideration towards other affiliates, seeing itself as a super affiliate
- this was evident from their rejection of the Castel Cup, saying the football calendar is already congested, despite the fact that the Castel cup is one cup that starts at grassroots level and unearths rural, raw talent
- despite this public antagonism towards FAM, behind the scenes the same Sulom relies on FAM to implement all or most of its projects as mentioned already. The same can not be said of other affiliates.
KNOWLEDGE/AWARENESS OF ISSUES
What was already in place by the previous Exco?
- very knowledgeable
- good understanding and appreciation of laws and roles
What has changed?– some statements show little appreciation of the prevailing rules and laws
- some examples are the lack of appreciation that broadcasting rights are managed by a country’s FA, that it is not within the mandate of Sulom to manage a Cup tournament (Sulom was set up by FAM as an affiliate of FAM to manage the Super League of Malawi with specific TORs to that effect, and not to manage the Airtel Cup as they demanded). Another example is their initial refusal to exempt clubs that had contributed 4 or more players to Flames, from league fixtures, despite the rules being very clear on that. The examples are many.
- refusal to recognize itself as one of the affiliates of FAM, failure to appreciate digital centralization in this day and age, etc, are more examples. Digitalization is not about Facebook pages or website. These are mostly and merely communication tools. Digitalization is about computerizing work processes.
- Part 1. Stay tuned as we do an in-depth analysis of the Sulom manifesto
