Fam appoints women’s development officer

Football Association of Malawi (Fam) has hired Ntopwa Women’s Football Club attacking midfielder Memory Austin as women football development officer to be responsible for the game in the country.

This is the first time the association have employed the officer solely for women football.

Fam General Secretary, Alfred Gunda confirmed the hiring of the officer saying it was one of the steps of developing the game.

“The officer is expected to start work on May 1, 2020 and she will be responsible for development of the game,” Gunda said.

On her part, National Women’s Football Association (NWFA) chairperson, Suzgo Ngwira said it was a big step towards developing the game in the country.

“It is high we should have an officer sole responsible for women football. We believe, going forward, we will also have a technical director specifically for women’s football in line with Fam president manifesto,” Ngwira said.

When contacted Monday, Austin said she would focus much on grassroots football.

“Malawi has talented players but we just need to nurture them well. I do not want to promise the moon and the sun but I will try my best to take the game to the next level by getting more females in the sport,” she said.

The recruitment of Austin indicates that the association is moving in the right direction to bring more women in the sport. Previously, many positions in women football were dominated by men.

However, Fam recently appointed Macnebat Kadzuwa as head coach for the Scorchers –replacing Abel Mkandawire, Andrew Chikhosi and Maggie Chombo were named as Kadzuwa’s assistants.