Fam target February 24 for league resumption
Football Association of Malawi (Fam) has disclosed it is waiting for the government’s response on special waiver to enable the 2020/21 season to resume.
Football is currently suspended due to Covid-19 restrictions limiting public gatherings to 50 from 100.
Chairperson for Fam Special Taskforce on Covid-19 Chimango Munthali was optimistic that their request would be addressed.
“We submitted our implementation plan, and we are just waiting for the feedback,” Munthali said.
In an interview yesterday, Director of Sports in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Jameson Ndalama acknowledged receipt of the Football Restart Road Map from Fam.
“We got it we submitted it to management yesterday (Thursday). After that it will be submitted to the Presidential Taskforce on Covid-19 for further scrutiny,” Ndalama said.
In the proposal, Fam has outlined several measures to ensure safe return of football to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
“In an effort to demonstrate continued support to government prevention measures against further spreading of Covid-19 in football, Fam has enhanced its preventive measures to ensure a safe return of Super League matches with 98 people and behind closed doors,” reads the document which Fam presented to government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The association submitted an implementation plan for the Football Restart to Ministry of Youth and Sports on Tuesday lobbying the government to consider giving Fam special waiver to accommodate 100 people at football matches.
In the proposal, the association proposed to the government that the league should resume on February 24 after conducting tests of football stakeholders between February 15 and 16.
Due to rise in coronavirus cases, government gazetted new laws restricting public gathering to 50 people which forced Super League of Malawi (Sulom) and Fam to suspend the league in compliance with the directive.
In order to ensure total compliance of all stakeholders during matches, the association has also revised the guidelines.
Apart from security that Fam will deploy in access control areas, the association will also engage extra police to ensure that there are no crowds gathering outside the match venues.
Additional mitigation measures to ensure that no fans turn up at stadiums will be also implemented, including broadcasting and streaming of matches.
The league was suspended on January 19 after a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases in the country.
Capital City giants Silver Strikers lead the 16-member league with 19 points from nine matches, at par with second placed Ekwendeni Hammers and third placed Red Lions.
