* An outdated and scornful juju practice related to witchcraft in believing their opponents FOMO FC planted magic spells at official Mulanje Park entry point
* The belief that juju magic can influence a team to win or lose has long been scorned upon as if it worked, Malawi could have been winning the FIFA World Cup™
By Duncan Mlanjira
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has punished Changalume Barracks Football Club with a fine of K300,000 for their freakish and outlandish behaviour when they jumped over the fence into Mulanje Park for their NBS Bank National Division League (NDL) assignment against FOMO FC on June 27, 2026.
In its letter addressed to the club, which has just gained entry into the 2nd-tier NBS Bank NDL after winning the 3rd-tier 2025 season’s title, FAM indicates that it received and reviewed reports and photographic evidence concerning the conduct of Changalume Barracks as they arrived at the stadium.
“It was established that Changalume Barracks players used an undesignated entry point to access the field of play, contrary to the National Division League Rules and Regulations,” says the letter.
This is in breach to Article 29.13 of the National Division League Rules and Regulations, which states that ‘any club found using an undesignated entry point into the ground shall be liable to a fine of K300,000 per offence’.
The fine has been ordered to be paid within 14 days from the date of the letter and FAM further warns that “failure to comply with the directive may result in further disciplinary measures in accordance with the Football Association of Malawi Rules and Regulations”.
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Since time immemorial, football players and officials have always believed that juju witchcraft can influence the outcome of matches for them to lose or to act as an antidote on the magic spells applied by their opponents.
Such cases include using fans to invade the pitch at halftime to urinate at the goalposts that their opponents’ goalkeeper had been to neutralise any juju magic spells that may have been applied there.
Other teams advise their players to get back the second half from the dressing rooms at halftime by running onto the pitch backwards.
Some have thrown all sorts of bizarre fetish substances at opponents’ goals — all in the belief that magic would work wonders.
But many people have scorned over this belief that magic can influence a team to win or lose because if it worked, Malawi Flames could have been qualifying to and winning the Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) or the FIFA World Cup™ — let alone the COSAFA Cup.
The Flames have failed to win the COSAFA Cup since its inception in 1997 and only qualified — and just — for the AfCON three times (1984, 2010 and 2022).
As for the FIFA World Cup™, they have not even come close to qualifying while their women’s counterparts, the Scorchers, managed to win the COSAFA Championship in 2023 after just a few attempts.
The same goes to their first-ever qualification to the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAfCON) in which they are preparing for to be held in Morocco from July 26 to August 16 — pitted in Group C along with 10-time champions Nigeria (July 28); North Africans, Egypt (August 1); and neighbours, Zambia (August 5).
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