Football Association of Malawi (Fam) President Fleetwood Haiya has said the country’s football governing body wants its headquarters to move to Lilongwe.
The project has already been granted a seal of approval by Fifa President Gianni Infantino, who committed that the world football governing body would fund its construction.
The development means Fam will move its base from Chiwembe Township in Blantyre once the project is completed.
Haiya said it is pleasing that President Lazarus Chakwera, through Sports Minister Uchizi Mkandawire, has pledged to facilitate the acquisition of land for developing a technical centre.
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“We want to make sure that we have the headquarters of Fam here in Lilongwe. We should also have training fields, at a minimum of four, where we will also have hostels for both men’s and women’s football teams. We believe that the structure that we are visualising is also going to help as we transform the game of football in Malawi.
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“The Fifa President has given a nod that he is going to support the idea and beyond that, he has also presented that to the H.E. [Chakwera] that we have agreed with Fam and this is what is going to happen,” he told Fam’s website.
Infantino made the commitment after a meeting with Haiya in Lilongwe on Tuesday, saying it emanated from the Fam boss’ request.
“I met the [Fam] president Mr. Fleetwood Haiya for the second time. I first met him in Saudi Arabia and now; a man of passion who wants to change and bring forward football in Malawi—both women’s football and men’s—and it’s exactly what we need. To invest in academies and develop the youth. A lot of these projects can be done together; our teams are working together.
“We are discussing the issue of a training centre, brand new, and this is exactly what we need to reach the next level. There are no secrets. There are no miracles. The only guarantee to have results resides in hard work and it is exactly what Fleetwood is here for, what his team is here for, his administration, general secretariat and our team,” he told Fam’s website.
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Infantino said he discussed several projects with Chakwera and Mkandawire.
“During our visit, we had an opportunity to meet the President of the Republic and also the Sports Minister. We had an opportunity to discuss several projects. The future of football here in Malawi definitely will be very bright. There is so much passion and talent here in Malawi,” Fam.mw quotes him as saying.
During his visit to Malawi, Infantino also had the opportunity to offer condolences to Mary Chilima following the death of her husband, Vice President Saulos Chilima, in a plane crash on Monday.
He personally presented to Mary a Fifa jersey that he had intended to present to Chilima during their scheduled meeting, which was disrupted by the crash.
