Football Association of Malawi (Fam) engaged United States (US) Women’s Soccer League side Kansas City Current in a lengthy discussion regarding the availability of Malawi National Women’s Football Team striker Temwa Chawinga.
Fam were fighting to have Temwa at the Fifa Series tournament set to roll into action Saturday in Nairobi, Kenya, but an agreement was reached to excuse her.
The superstar returned to action for Kansas City last weekend after spending almost six months on the sidelines nursing an injury.
She saw 40 minutes of action and assisted Debinha to score the first goal in Kansas City’s 2-1 win over Gotham on Saturday.
Fam Communications and Competitions Director Gomezgani Zakazaka said they enquired more from Kansas City on Temwa’s status.
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Zakazaka said they understood the situation after the talks and excused the player.
“During our discussions, Kansas expressed concern about the long distance travel. They were also concerned about the minutes their player will spend on the pitch at the series. The club has been monitoring her as the injury was being treated. It is not like they wanted to argue with us. It was a cordial discussion.
We took her situation into consideration and thought it wise to allow her to miss the friendly matches. We looked at the distance she would have travelled from the US to Nairobi, covering almost 20 hours. This is a person who is coming from an injury. We are talking about the minutes she will play in Nairobi. At Kansas she was given 40 minutes only,” Zakazaka said.
Meanwhile, Scorchers captain Tabitha Chawinga has revealed that she is recovering well from an injury she sustained last week during a Uefa Women’s Champions League second leg quarterfinal encounter when her club OL Lyonnes beat German side Wolfsburg 4-0 to progress to the last four.
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Tabitha, who missed Saturday’s Coup de France Feminine because of the injury wished her countrywomen all the best and urged them to play for a win against Australia Saturday.
She said a win would be a morale booster as the team prepares for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations finals set for July in Morocco.
“I am improving but cannot talk much as I have been out for a week now. I will see what happens next after the doctor’s advice. But one thing that I know for sure is that the girls will work hard to get good results in Kenya,” she said.
Other teams participating in the Fifa Series are India and Kenya.
