Big Bullets for Sale

By: Andrew Cane Chilapondwa

Big Bullets sponsors Nyasa Manufacturing Company (NMC) have been asked to completely take over the full ownership of the club by Supporters Executive Committee.

Rumors started circulating in January that the current Chairman Sam Chilunga was planning to sell the club to NMC, a move which resulted into an in-house fighting between Chilunga and some of his fellow main executive committee members who later resigned from their respective positions.

However, the biggest club in Malawi is about to be sold. According to the constitution, the club is owned by supporters resulting in the endless wrangles in the past years.

Speaking during a lunch organized by NMC, Supporters’ Chairman Stone Mwamadi and team captain Chiukepo Msowoya pleaded with their sponsors to completely purchase the club.

But reacting towards the news, NMC’s Managing Director Dimitri Kalaiztch said the process is not as simple as the club has a lot of work to do on the move.

However, Kalaiztch admitted that Bullets’s take over cannot be ruled out.

“This process takes time and I think it’s too early to comment on the matter. We will sit down with the board of trustees, main executive committee and supporters committee and then map the way forward. We are not ruling that possibility out,” he said.

The club secured a K 0.5 billion sponsorship deal with the cigarette manufacturing company last year but wrangles within the top management has been the talk of the town, with the company earlier on threatening to pull out of the deal if Chilunga was removed from his position.

If the club is purchased, supporters will have no powers over the team. Efforts to speak to Chilunga proved futile as his cell phone line was out of reach.

The luncheon was organized by the sponsors as one way of congratulating the team for winning the inaugural Chifundo Shield Cup a fortnight ago.