Minister blasts Fam over poor displays, uniform

Tom Sangala July 2, 2017

301 1 minute read

MALAWI national football team’s awful performance and their shabby dressing at the Cosafa Castle Cup in South Africa have attracted Minister of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development, Henry Mussa’s wrath.

The minister has blasted Football Association of Malawi (Fam) for embarrassing the nation through the Flames’ failure to win, let alone score in three games. Mussa also said he was dismayed by the substandard Flames’ jerseys, which he described as Kaunjika weni weni (second-hand kit).

“I am very disappointed. In fact, we hoped that maybe a goal would be scored but there was nothing. I was also completely disappointed with the type of uniform, especially the green oversized uniform.

“You saw the embarrassment on the social media and the entire region laughing at us. Why, in the first place, do we do things in half measures and in an inferior approach like that? I do not want to be party to that,” Mussa explained.

Mussa heaped the blame on Fam for its casual approach, which he said, is demotivating players.

“We are yet to receive a report from Fam and we should be able to engage them headon to really appreciate why the whole thing, instead of improving, is getting worse and worse all the time,” Mussa said.

Fam President, Walter Nyamilandu, and General Secretary, Alfred Gunda, could not pick our calls when contacted yesterday morning.

But Nyamilandu told The Daily Times on Wednesday that in terms of short-term key performance indicators of rebuilding and adopting a new style of play, the Flames, under Coach, Ronny van Geneudgen, are showing promising signs.

“We must also consider the time factor in terms of what he has achieved in three months. We are paying the price of not having youth teams in the last five years. The money has not been available for the under-17 and under-20 teams to participate in continental competitions,” Nyamilandu said.

The Flames exited the Cosafa Castle Cup after a 2-0 loss to Tanzania before goalless draws against Mauritius and Angola. Malawi also became a subject of ridicule for wearing an oversized and low quality uniform.

But Fam Commercial and Marketing Director, Limbani Matola, told The Nation last week that they got what was available at the Umbro dealer in South Africa.

“It is indeed a very true observation that the current Flames kit is quite aged and has out-lived its lifespan. We are currently working on having a new kit and the process is at an advanced stage,” Matola said.