As Football Association of Malawi (Fam) is keeping a tight lid over the identity of the incoming technical director, The Daily Times can reveal that the association has settled for a Romanian coach Mario Marinica.
Sources indicated that Marinica emerged successful during virtual interviews held recently.
Football Association of Malawi (Fam) General Secretary Alfred Gunda confirmed that the selection process of the TD was over and that the leading candidate was a Romanian, without revealing his name.
“We are done, out of the 13 candidates who applied for the job, four were shortlisted for interviews and we now have the successful candidate. We will be making it public anytime,” Gunda said.
However, our investigations reveal that Marinica came out top and he has since accepted Fam’s offer.
Gunda could neither confirm nor deny when quizzed about Marinica’s impending appointment.
According to Wikipedia, Marinica holds a Uefa Pro Licence, the highest football coaching qualification. “He has coached at Romanian clubs Rapid București, Gloria Buzău, Sportul București , Argeş Piteşti, Rocar București, and Cimentul Fieni. He has also coached at Azam F.C. in Tanzania, Black Leopards in South Africa, Zakho FC in Iraq, and Kaposvári Rákóczi FC in Hungary,” the article read.
“In England, he has worked at Crystal Palace FC and Arsenal FC’s Academies as well as Leyton Orient FC’s School of Excellence. His playing career included spells at Rocar București, Dinamo București and Steaua București.”
Meanwhile, former MDC United and Malawi National football team goalkeeper Patrick Chimulambe has faulted Fam for hiring an expatriate instead of going local.
The post fell vacant after the association did not renew John Kaputa’s contract in June this year, having served in that capacity for eight years.
Kaputa had replaced late Jack Chamangwana in 2013.
Peter Fote is a Sports Journalist with huge experience in radio and Television reporting, production and presentation. He once worked with Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and is currently working for Times Media Group.
