Part of action between Sangu and Chitala in a ceremonial match
Maravi Express
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) says district leagues are restricted to Under-23 players because they are developmental and must be participated by players who have the potential to grow.
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FAM president Walter Nyamilandu Manda made the remarks last Saturday afternoon when he presided over the launch of the leagues for the Central Region at Salima Community Centre.
According to the competition’s rules and regulations on player eligibility, players must be 23 years old or below to participate in the leagues.
“We want to concentrate our efforts on players who have the potential to grow and take our football forward,” Nyamilandu is quoted as saying by Fam.mw.
Nyamilandu during the launch
“We already have a foundation with the FAM Under 14, Under 16 Under 17 and the First Capital Bank Under 20 Leagues.
“We needed to bridge the gap with the Super League so that the pathway for player development and transition must be smooth.
“Players must come from this leagues to go and play for the Super League and national teams and that can only happen if we are dealing with the right age group.
“We don’t want players that played at Super League level before and retired to be playing in these leagues because they don’t have a future in the game,” he said.
Sangu FC beat Chitala FC 1-0
He added that FAM will appoint scouts in each district to be monitoring talent in the rural areas.
Central Region Football Association general secretary Bernard Harawa said they will put in place measurers to ensure that there is no age cheating.
“We warn all teams to register players of the right age .We will ensure that data is gathered systematically using the Mpira Connect so that we have the right people playing our leagues,” Harawa said.
The launch was spiced up with a ceremonial match as Sangu FC beat Chitala FC 1-0. FAM launched the leagues in the Northern Region in Nkhata Bay last week and will launch in the Southern Region in Nsanje.
Last week, FAM’s Under-20 men’s national team technical panel — led by head coach, Patrick Mabeti launched regional talent identification exercise to scout players for the team in preparation for the 2021 COSAFA Championship.
Under-23 coach Patrick Mabedi
The exercise started last week for the Central and Northern Regions respectively to be complete this weekend (August 7-8) for the Southern and Eastern regions.
The technical panel is expected to identify 65 players to be gathered together for a national camp between August 16-25.
Over 355 players were scouted by the National Youth Football Association (NYFA) and the Malawi Schools Sports Association (Massa) during district clusters talent identification exercise held on July 17-18.
In an interview with Fam.mw, Mabedi said they targt players born not earlier than 1st January 2003 so that they are eligible for CAF Under 20 qualifiers next year.
“We want them to be together for some time before the CAF qualifiers and not just for months as has been the case in the past.
“The longer they stay together, the stronger and competitive they will become. We are looking for younger boys that will help Malawi football in the longer term,” he is quoted as saying.
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