Ministry plays tough on Under-17, 20 coaches

Ministry of Youth and Sports has asked Football Association of Malawi (Fam) to provide performance assessment reports for Malawi Under-20 National Football Team Coach Patrick Mabedi and his Under-17 counterpart Deklerk Msakakuona before renewing their respective contracts.

The ministry is yet to renew contracts for two coaches after they expired in November last year.

The ministry’s chief human resource officer Alfred Butao confirmed that Fam had requested for the renewal of the contracts of Mabedi and Msakakuona but the process hinges on performance assessment reports.

“Indeed, we got the proposal from Fam. But we have asked them to give us performance appraisal reports justifying the renewal of the contracts. This is a normal process,” Butao said.

Both Mabedi and Msakakuona were hired as government employees after emerging successful during interviews held in February 2020.

But due to the suspension of football in the country due to the Covid pandemic, they spent the better part of the year without coaching.

Fam Sub-technical Committee Chairperson Tiya Somba-Banda was reluctant to comment on the matter yesterday while the association’s general secretary Alfred Gunda was not available.

Msakakuona helped Malawi win bronze at the Cosafa Boys Region 5 Games held in Maseru, Lesotho, last December.

During the tournament, Malawi drew 1-1 with Botswana in the opening match before suffering a 4-2 loss to Angola in the last group stage match.

But the young Flames won bronze after thrashing eSwatini 4-0 in the third place play-off.

Both Msakakuona and Mabedi were not available for their comments.

National Football Coaches Association (NFCA) Chairperson Aubrey Nankhuni said he was not aware of the development.

On the part of Mabedi, he was dealt a big blow after the Cosafa Boys Under-20 Championship was postponed due to Covid.

However, Mabedi was appointed as technical adviser for Malawi Women’s National Football Team during the 2021 Cosafa Cup championship in South Africa.

The Scorchers reached their first ever Cosafa Cup final but lost 1-0 to eventual champions Tanzania.

While in charge of the Under-20 during the 2020 Cosafa Youth Championship, the team exited the tournament in group stages after two losses and one win.