Football Association of Malawi (Fam) President Fleetwood Haiya has urged members of Parliament (MPs) to register their constituency competitions with the association so that it provides technical support.
Haiya made the remarks after donating five balls to each of the parliamentarians at Parliament Building in Lilongwe Thursday.
This is the first time he has interacted with the lawmakers in his official capacity as Fam chief.
The former Super League of Malawi boss called on the MPs to start working with the association in organising football competitions in their respective constituencies if they are to reap maximum benefits.
“The idea behind this meeting was to appreciate the roles you are playing in developing the country. We want you to register your competitions with us so that, in turn, we give you technical support.
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“It is a fact that most of the teams at constituency level do not have qualified trainers and administrators. So what we want to do is to exercise our mandate of regulating all tournaments to ensure that we develop football in a holistic manner,” he said.
Haiya said by regulating rural competitions, Fam will ensure that more talent is scouted and fed into big clubs and national teams.
“We are going to ensure that we make ourselves available to scout players whenever there are tournaments in the MPs’ respective constituencies. Through this arrangement, we believe it is possible to scout more talent across the country in line with our agenda of Transforming the Game,” he said.
Haiya also appealed to the MPs to consider sponsoring youth football in their respective constituencies.
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MPs are the main sponsors of football trophies at constituency level, especially during campaign time, as they use the game to draw big crowds.
However, such competitions are run without Fam’s nod, resulting into lack of expertise in critical areas such as organisation and officiation.
Parliament Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara hailed Haiya for donating 965 balls to the legislators.
“We are happy with the gesture shown by the Fam president. Each MP has received five balls and we are very excited. These balls will help a lot in developing football in our respective constituencies,” Hara said.
Youth and Sports Minister Uchizi Mkandawire commended Fam for taking the initiative to meet the parliamentarians.
“It is good that the Fam president took the initiative to meet with MPs so that they appreciate the challenges the association faces in its efforts to develop football in the country. I believe the MPs will help lobby for more funding so that the game benefits,” Mkandawire said.
Haiya visited Parliament just two days after Malawi hosted a successful Four Nations Tournament at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe which involved hosts Malawi, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Kenya won the senior tournament following a 3-1 win over Zimbabwe while Malawi lifted the under-20 trophy after hammering Kenya with a similar scoreline.
