Football Association of Malawi (Fam) has announced that only coaches with at least a Caf B coaching licence would be allowed to take charge of teams in the new National First Division League (NFDL).
Fam President Fleetwood Haiya made the announcement on Wednesday during the closing ceremony of a Caf B coaching course at Mpira Village in Chiwembe Township, Blantyre.
Haiya said Fam will create more opportunities for highly qualified coaches starting with the NFDL which will become the country’s second-tier league from next season.
“We are on a mission to transform the game and one way to achieve that is to have a robust technical development. This can only happen if we have well-trained coaches, hence having the Caf B Coaching Course on top of the Video Analysis Course that we had earlier this year.
“The National Division League that we are introducing next year will have a Caf B Coaching Licence as a minimum requirement for coaches, so we expect most of these coaches to get teams in that league,” Haiya said.
The Fam boss therefore urged all the participants to affiliate with the National Football Coaches Association (NFCA), saying they will only recognise members of the coaching body.
NFCA Chairperson Aubrey Nankhuni applauded Fam for organising the course, saying this will help Malawi with more coaches who can be recommended for national duties.
“We are grateful to Fam for the course. We had gaps in the number of qualified coaches in our database. But after this course, recommending coaches to our clubs or national teams will no longer be a problem,” Nankhuni said.
He asked coaches who have gone through the course to scout promising players and develop them using modern coaching techniques so that they become useful players to the country’s national teams.
Speaking on behalf of the participants, Dida Zingwangwa of Southern Region Football Association League Premier Division outfit Zingwangwa United, said the knowledge gained from the course will help in improving coaching standards across the country.
“This course has broadened our football horizon in terms of coaching. We are leaving this course well equipped and better prepared to elevate football in this country. We will make sure that we utilise this knowledge by producing better players,” Zingwanga said.
The course had 20 male and three female coaches who were drilled in technical and tactical aspects of the game, Laws of the Game and Sports Medicine.
Fam Technical Director Benjamin Kumwenda and Caf Coaches Instructor Captain John Kaputa (retired) facilitated the course alongside referees instructor Maxwell Mtonga and seasoned team doctor Levison Mwale.
