Mabedi
Malawi National Football Team Coach Patrick Mabedi and Football Association of Malawi (Fam) are yet to reach a breakthrough in their contractual talks, two months after he was named permanent coach.
Mabedi was appointed Flames permanent coach on a two-year deal in October this year-replacing Romanian Mario Marinica who endured a difficult spell.
However, despite discussing for close to two months now, the contractual talks have not been finalised.
In an interview on Thursday, Fam President Walter Nyamilandu said talks resumed with Mabedi after the completion of the round of matches in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
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“The contract negotiations with the coach are at a very advanced stage. We have since started engaging the Ministry of Youth and Sports to firm up budgets so that we can conclude discussions with the coach. We hope to finalise the process in the next few weeks,” Nyamilandu said.
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Mabedi was appointed as Flames coach after a successful spell as temporary coach in which he guided the team to fourth place finish at the 2023 Cosafa Men’s Championship in Durban, South Africa.
The former Flames and Kaizer Chiefs defender was not readily available for his comment yesterday.
Ministry of Youth and Sports will be responsible for Mabedi’s remunerations.
Mabedi’s contract as Malawi Under-20 National Football Team coach, expired on November 6 this year.
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Fam and the ministry officials held a meeting at Capital Hill in Lilongwe this week regarding the matter.
Spokesperson for Ministry of Youth and Sports Macmillan Mwale confirmed that discussions took place on Wednesday.
“Truly negotiations are in progress with Fam but the association is in a better position to shed more light at what stage is the issue,” Mwale said.
Since he was appointed permanent Flames coach, Mabedi has been in charge of the team in two matches in the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
He guided the team to a 1-0 victory over Liberia in Monrovia, Liberia-the first ever win in West Africa before they lost to Tunisia by a similar margin at Bingu National Stadium.
As an interim coach, Mabedi drew 0-0 with Ethiopia and 2-2 against Guinea in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers.
