FAM enhancing safety and security at matches; To hold high-level stewards’ trainer of trainers course on Friday and Saturday

Experienced FIFA and CAF security and safety officer, Dixon Okello

* Safety and security, which is a key element in the successful delivery of football matches and competitions in the country

* It’s been over 20 years since an expert came to drill our stewards in the country

* Over the years, we have recruited a lot of stewards without proper orientation or training due to lack of expertise

By Duncan Mlanjira

World football governing body, FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF) safety and security expert, Dixon Okello from Uganda has been invited by Football Association of Malawi (FAM) to facilitate a two-day Stewards Trainer of Trainers workshop aimed at creating a pool of local trainers who are expected to be conducting stewardship trainings across the country.

A statement from FAM says the workshop, which will be held at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe on Friday and Saturday, is aimed at enhancing safety and security, “which is a key element in the successful delivery of football matches and competitions in the country”.

FAM’s Competitions & Communications Director, Gomezgani Zakazaka is quoted on Fam.mw as saying: “It’s been over 20 years since an expert came to drill our stewards in the country. Over the years we have recruited a lot of stewards without proper orientation or training due to lack of expertise.

“We have organised this workshop to train trainers who will be equipped with modern trends and necessary knowledge and skill to effectively manage safety and security in Malawi  football,” Zakazaka said.

He added that the workshop will be participated by stewards supervisors from all the stadiums that host elite football and the 16 Super League clubs security officers.

“Our objective is that each Super League club should have its own stewards to handle security matters during their home matches,” Zakazaka said. “It is expected that after the workshop, the security officers will lead the process of recruiting and training of their respective clubs’ stewards.

Among others, the workshop will focus on stewardship, emergency response procedures and crowd control techniques and Okello, who is a certified FIFA and CAF security & safety officer has a proven track record of safeguarding football players, officials, fans at major sports events.

The Uganda Football Federation’s security officer was recently voted CAF Best Safety & Security officer and was a steward at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South.

He has been safety and security officer at CAF tournaments like the AFCON Cameroon 2022, CAF Confederation Cup final Nigeria 2022,  AFCON U-20 Niger 2019 and AFCON Egypt 2019.

He has also served as in the same position at FIFA tournaments like the FIFA U-20 Poland 2029, FIFA U-20 Argentina 2023 and FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021.

Stewards are important aspect of security and safety of everyone involved at football matches but recent events of violence is now targeting one of the most important stakeholder of the Beautiful Game — the media.

Just on Sunday, the negativity on the media reared it’s ugly head when three supporters of Mighty Wanderers, disguising themselves as the Nomads’ stewards, assaulted TV Islam journalist Yasin Limu damaging the TV station’s camera tripod and his personal wrist watch.

Two of the supporters masquerading as stewards were identified as Dolf and Harry by Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Malawi Chapter, which strongly condemned the violence that happened few minutes into Wanderers’ opening match of the TNM Super League 2024 season against at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.

In his statement, MISA Malawi’s chairperson, Golden Matonga took note that the assault on Limu happened when the supporters were chasing sports reporters out of an area normally reserved for the media covering games at the stadium.

“Barbaric acts against journalists in their line of duty should not be tolerated,” Matonga said. “What the three supporters did is a violation of media freedom and the right to access information, fundamental rights enshrined in the Malawi Constitution.

“We demand disciplinary action on the supporters by the club and the Malawi Police should also investigate, arrest and prosecute the assailants.”

MISA Malawi also took cognizant that “this is not the first time that supporters of a Super League club have assaulted a journalist” and gave an example of an incident of 2023, when Silver Strikers supporters also assaulted Smart Chalika of Kasupe Radio.

“The trend has a chilling effect on sports journalists,” contends MISA Malawi. “Football is a beautiful game that the media has covered for many years and acts of barbarism that threaten the lives of reporters and football lovers need to be flushed out.”

MISA Malawi thus asks Football Association of Malawi (FAM), Super League of Malawi (SULOM) and Wanderers’ administrators — led by the team’s president, Thom Mpinganjira — to take decisive action against the individuals “who are creating an environment of fear and intimidation for sports reporters and bringing the game into disrepute”.

This should be a point of reference for Okello to impress on the stewards that they should inculcate a cultural of coexistence among stakeholders in order to uphold secure and safe environment for all at football matches.

In February, president Thom Mpinganjira issued a stern warning to Mighty Wanderers supporters, particularly those in Lilongwe, against succumbing to violence and hooliganism during the team’s matches in the capital.

According to Shiretimes.com, the admonition follows substantial monetary penalty meted on the club by FAM for causing damage to facilities at Bingu National Stadium in the aftermath of a contentious refereeing decision during an Airtel Top 8 match against Silver Strikers.

Shiretimes.com quotes Mpinganjira from the sentiments he made in a video clip that was a widely circulated on social media, in which he emphatically asserted that should such unruly behavior persist, he will not hesitate to enlist the Police Mobile Force (PMF) to maintain order during any Mighty Wanderers game in Lilongwe.

Expressing his aspirations, Mpinganjira articulates a desire for his team to clinch the TNM Super League title this season along with at least two other coveted cups. The previous season saw Mighty Wanderers laboring without silverware, despite robust sponsorship and a squad brimming with talent.

Just a week ago, Mpinganjira also spoke out against violence warning that sponsors lose interest to a club whose supporters are hooligans.

“If supporters truly love their football clubs, they should understand that if they misbehave, that club is going to suffer in paying fines and hiring lawyers to defend their cases instead of helping players and other operations of the teams,” he is quoted as saying by Capital Radio Malawi.

“Sponsors do not like too much noise and most of them end up running away if they see acts of misbehavior. Last year I would have given up sponsorship of Wanderers but being a Malawian I knew that that would have affected the club heavily. I had to stay for the love of this country,” Mpinganjira warned.

Concurring with Mpinganjira, SULOM president Gilbert Mittawa called on all relevant stakeholders to avoid acts of hooliganism if the game is to be revived to greater heights.

“Football is business and if you have some negative externalities, people that are doing violence then obviously the sponsors will run away from the game.

“I therefore want to make a special appeal to fans, supporters and other stakeholders to avoid violence if we are to revive, reform and rebrand our league,” he said.