Mighty Mukuru Wanderers defender Miracle Gabeya beamed a smile as he walked to the podium at Sunbird Mount Soche in Blantyre on Wednesday evening to collect the Best player of the tournament accolade during the Airtel Top 8 Season Five Awards ceremony.
Gabeya beat teammate Chiukepo Msowoya and Nyasa Big Bullets defender Gomezgani Chirwa for the award at a ceremony where outstanding journalists were also honoured.
The other players’ award for the top goal scorer was shared among Msowoya, Nyasa Big Bullets striker Lanjesi Nkhoma and Collins Nyondo of Dedza Dynamos who scored two goals each.
Gabeya said :“I am happy to have won this top award in this prestigious tournament. There was tough competition from other players and feels good to be a winner.
During the ceremony, journalists were also rewarded for their outstanding coverage of the tournament.
Nation Publications Limited (NPL) sports editor Garry Chirwa scooped best journalist while his work mate Boby Kabango was named best photo-journalist.
Mibawa TV’s Hankey Chimtengo won the best TV journalist award while Richard Tiyesi of Timveni Radio walked away with the best Radio journalist award. Times’ Peter Fote was named best commentator while Pemphero Musowa of Kulinji.Com was the best online journalist.
FAM Vice President Jabbar Alide, who is also the FAM Competitions and Marketing subcommittee Chairperson said the association is doing everything possible to make each season exciting to both sponsor and the fans.
“We appreciate Airtel and all the partners for the success of the Airtel Top 8 Season 5. As organisers, we will continue to up our game to make it more exciting. We introduced the Competition’s Management System which is now able to calculate player and team statistics making it easy to trace player performances,” said Alide.
Airtel Malawi Managing Director Charles Kamoto said his company is excited to be part of football saying each season brings its own record.
“We are always excited to be in football because we love the sport. We had a meaning when we launched “Zamadolo” theme because we wanted to tell the nation that these are the cream of teams in the Malawi and that’s what we have been experiencing.
“We also knew that it will go a long way in creating the competitive culture among the teams and players and we have witnessed that as three players shared the top goal scorer award and for the first a defender has gone home with the player of the season award,” he said.
Below is the list of the awardees
Media
Best reporter-Print…Garry Chirwa (Nation Publications Limited)
Best reporter- Online..Pemphero Musowa (kulinji.com)
Best reporter-TV…Hankey Chimtengo (Mibawa)
Best Photojournalist…Bobby Kabango (Nation Publications Limited)
Best Reporter-Radio…Richard Tiyesi (Timveni Radio)
Best Commentator…Peter Fote (Times Group)
Players
Top goal scorers
Chiukepo Msowoya (Mighty Mukuru Wanderers)
Lanjesi Nkhoma (Nyasa Big Bullets) Clement Nyondo (Dedza Dynamos)
Player of the Tournament
Miracle Gabeya (Mighty Mukuru Wanderers)
