Local football giants have welcomed Football Association of Malawi (Fam)’s plan to set up a safety and security body aimed at ending hooliganism and violence.
Fam President Fleetwood Haiya revealed the plan during the 2023 Zamadolo Airtel Top 8 prize presentation ceremony at Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre on Tuesday.
Haiya said the body would be handling all issues to do with violence and hooliganism in all competitions.
“What happened during the opening match of the Airtel Top 8 season six between Silver Strikers and Mighty Wanderers was a disgrace to Malawi football. After taking over the office of Fam president in December, I found this case, which took almost two months to resolve.
“This resulted into the competition dragging on into January. I would therefore like to thank Wanderers President Dr Thom Mpinganjira for understanding the situation we were in. This helped us to finish the tournament in style,” Haiya said.
FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Chief Administration Officer Albert Chigoga said the statement is an indication of Fam’s will to safeguard the interest of sponsors as well as ensuring that match venues are safe places for entertainment.
“Under these difficult economic times, it is not easy to acquire sponsorship. As such, it is very disgusting to see some stakeholders in the game engaging in violence and hooliganism. Such acts only end up tarnishing the image of our beautiful game.
“Football commercialisation cannot make positive strides if football matches are marred by hooliganism and violence. We cannot make money as clubs if people are scared of patronising our games,” Chigoga said.
Silver Strikers Chief Executive Officer Patrick Chimimba said the game cannot grow if football venues turn into battlegrounds for supporters.
“We need to safeguard the sponsorship we have at the moment in our game. The president has shown commitment in an attempt to curb acts of violence and hooliganism in the game,” Chimimba said.
Meanwhile, the former Super League of Malawi president has hinted that Fam will review the rules and regulations that are used in administering the game in the country.
“Going forward, we would like to sit down as an association and revisit the rules and regulations of our game. This will help us to avoid some of the acts that mar our game.
“We will not tolerate poor officiation in the game as it has the potential to make us lose sponsors who would like to partner us in transforming football,” he added.
During the ceremony, Airtel Managing Director Charles Kamoto left the football fraternity guessing on whether the company will continue sponsoring the competition or not, saying discussions with Fam on the matter were underway.
Airtel started sponsoring the cup in 2017.
Bullets won the 2023 edition after beating Mafco 2-1 at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre in January.
