Duo banned from athletics
Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) has banned two members of the dissolved Athletics Association of Malawi (AAM) executive committee president Godfrey Phiri and general secretary Frank Chitembeya, which means they cannot run the sport in the country.
The two have been banned for allegedly using Malawi’s emblems and logos without permission and failure to abide to rules and regulations of MNCS.
However, Phiri and Chitembeya remained defiant, saying the council has no powers to ban them.
In a statement issued Monday and signed by MNCS Public Relations and Communications Officer Edgar Ntulumbwa, the council has warned stakeholders against dealing with the two on athletics matters.
“MNCS wishes to inform the general public and the athletics family that it has immediately banned Mr Godfrey Phiri and Frank Chitembeya, who were the President and General Secretary, respectively, of the Athletics Association of Malawi (AAM) from taking part in, participating in and organising any athletic events in the country.
“As alluded to, no institution in Malawi should deal or transact with the dissolved committee members on any business affairs concerning athletics. Anyone who disregards this notice does so at their own peril,” the statement reads.
The statement indicates that the council has written to the world, continental and regional athletics governance bodies notifying them to desist from dealing with Phiri and Chitembeya.
Through the statement, council informs the public that it neither dissolved nor disaffiliated AAM.
Ntulumbwa said Phiri and Chitembeya were not abiding by rules and regulations of MNCS.
“We advised them to stop using Malawi emblems and logos but they were still doing it,” he said.
Recently, Phiri attended Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Region 5 annual general meeting where 14 countries were represented.
AAM, under the guidance of Chitembeya, also held an extra-ordinary general meeting in Lilongwe a week ago.
According to the statement, the caretaker committee led by His Lordship Justice Sylvester Kalembera JA, SC, finalised the validation of the draft reviewed constitution in line with the MNCS Act, council guidelines, and World Athletics constitution, at a stakeholder conference held two weeks ago.
Both Phiri and Chitembeya laughed off Sports Council’s ban.
“We are still in power as mandated by World Athletics. They have no mandate to dissolve or ban us for presenting the truth of the matter just because they are in power today. We don’t sort issues this way. Let them follow athletics constitution article 21. 1 to ban us. The constitution states that AAM executive can only be dissolved by two thirds majority of legible voters at an AGM of AAM,” Phiri said.
