Africa-Press – Malawi. Super League of Malawi (Sulom) has announced that the much talked about e-ticketing paying system at match venues will be implemented in the 2023 season.
Sulom President Tiya Somba Banda broke the news on Wednesday in Blantyre at the TNM Super League gala awards. He said, from this season, one will need to swipe a Mpamba card to get into the stadium.
“Spectators will just need to load their money into Mpamba wallet and have a Mpamba card which will be swiped into a PoS (Point of Sale) machine at the gate. No need to produce cash,” Banda said.
Asked why they have decided to roll out the project without first piloting it, Banda said they have done their homework. “We have done research around the world and two weeks ago we travelled to Tanzania to see how they are implementing this system. We managed to watch four games and sat down with system providers to appreciate how everything works. We are certain that it will work as well here,” he said.
Somba Banda assured that POS machines will be available at all match venues. “In the country, we have almost nine venues that can host league matches and we have 16 teams; meaning that on a weekend we have eight games. So this is possible. As we speak, we have already installed 200 PoS machines meaning that in a simple proportion, we have 10 PoS at a stadium,” Somba said.
TNM acting Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Gowera also assured on their capacity to implement the system. “We are working with our partners at Sulom and other stakeholders and we believe we have enough time to make all preparations and we are hopeful that this will be a success,” Gowera said.
It was also an exciting moment as the league managers announced that this season soccer fans will be able to watch league matches on their phones. “Clubs will also be able to generate money through this way. People will be able to watch at least four games on a match day through a TNM apple and this is a way of making the games accessible for all,” Somba Banda said.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Sports Isaac Katopola was excited that the country’s football landscape is taking another step. “We have been calling for a multi-sectoral approach in the development of sport and this is a way to go. We expect good management of the league and we have seen their [Sulom] innovations and this is what we expect,” Katopola.
The e-ticketing system has been a far-fetched dream in the country’s football scene. The programme has been Football Association of Malawi’s flagship initiative but for years failed to hit the ground. There have been anticipations that once the system is implemented, will help in curbing fraud during football games.
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