Meck Mwase, Patrick Mabedi, Deklerk Msakakuona summoned
Football Association of Malawi (Fam) has summoned all national team coaches to a review meeting this week after comical displays in competitions.
The meeting is expected to take place at Chiwembe Technical Centre in Blantyre tomorrow and is expected to be attended by all national team coaches.
Inside sources at Fam confided in Times Sport that the meeting will focus on performances of national teams in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) and Cosafa Cup.
“Indeed, the meeting will take place on Tuesday. We have been called to the meeting through the office of the technical director and it is to do with the performance of the national teams,” said the source.
However, Fam Technical Director John Kaputa and General Secretary Alfred Gunda were not readily available Sunday.
Fam Sub Technical Committee Chairperson Tiya Somba-Banda said it was just a usual meeting between the technical director and national teams’ coaches.
Senior Flames coach Meck Mwase, Under-17 coach Deklerk Msakakuona, Under-20 coach Patrick Mabedi and Malawi women’s national football team coach MCnerbat Kazuwa are expected to attend the performance-review meeting.
Football analyst George Kaudza Masina said Fam should have apologised for the poor performance of the national teams.
“In the first place, it is Fam which is supposed to be summoned by the Ministry of Sports through Malawi National Council of Sports to explain reasons for the mediocre performance of our national teams for which Fam is to blame.
“With the way Fam has been conducting itself with our football by selecting unqualified coaches to manage the teams, poor preparations of the team and imposing players on coaches, they don’t have the moral ground to reprimand national teams’ coaches,” Masina said.
The senior national team lost 3-1 to Burkina Faso in the first leg away before a goal-less draw at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.
Flames chances of qualifying for the Afcon finals hang by a thread as they are third in Group B with four points from four matches.
Burkina Faso lead the group with eight points followed by Uganda on seven points.
Malawi women’s senior national football team exited the Cosafa Cup in the semifinals after an embarrassing 6-2 loss to South Africa.
The women’s team thrashed Lesotho 9-0 in the opening match before beating Zambia 1-0 in the second match of the group stages.
Both the Under-17 and U-20 men’s national teams had a miserable outing at this year’s Cosafa Cup in South Africa.
Under-17 finished last in the four-nation tournament after failing to win a single match.
The team leaked goals like nobody’s business, having lost 6-2 to Zambia and 7-1 to Angola. Under-17 drew 2-2 with South Africa before losing 2-1 to Angola in the third-place play-off.
On the part of Under-20, the team started the competition with a narrow 1-0 victory over Comoros Islands before suffering back-to-back defeats to Namibia (2-1) and Zambia (2-0). Both U-17 and 20 missed a chance to qualify for Afcon Youth Championship finals to be staged in Morocco and Mauritania, respectively.
