FAM presidency up for grabs on December 16 if aspirants shall challenge Walter Nyamilandu

Incumbent Nyamilandu, the former FIFA Council member who currently sits on the CAF Executive Committee

* Nominations for candidates to be submitted by November 16, 2023 in accordance with Article 39 paragraph 2

* Delegates with the right to vote are Super League of Malawi (8); regional football associations of the North (6);  Central (6)

* As well as 2 each from national referees; national coaches; national youth football; national women and beach soccer

By Duncan Mlanjira

The stage is set for aspirants to challenge incumbent Walter Nyamilandu Manda for the post of Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president at the elective general assembly to be held in Mzuzu on December 16.

A notice from the FAM general secretary, Alfred Gunda said in accordance with FAM Statutes Article 29 paragraph 2, member associations whose delegates will have the right to vote are Super League of Malawi (8); regional football associations of the North (6);  Central (6); national referees (2); national coaches (2); national youth football (2); national women (2) and beach soccer (2).

They are further reminded that according to Article 27, the member associations shall exercise their voting rights through their official delegates (one vote each) who will also take part in the AGM’s deliberations.

Present will be FAM executive committee, Malawi National Council of Soorts, FAM’s electoral committee, Malawi Olympic Committee, FAM’s legal advisors, auditors and FAM secretariat staff.

Each member association is requested to submit names and passport size photos of their delegates to FAM secretariat by December 1 as per Article 26 paragraph 3 of FAM Statutes

The member associations are expected to nominate candidates for the elections of the vacant posts and that by December 1, all affiliates shall receive copies of the agenda, minutes of previous AGM held on June 24, 2023 held at Chatonda Lodge in Nkhata Bay, FAM statutes and FAM Electoral Code.

Member associations are reminded to adhere to provisions of Article 39 in making nominations for candidates to be submitted by November 16, 2023 in accordance with Article 39 paragraph 2.

Only official delegates shall be accredited and provided travel costs, accommodation and meals and for logistical reasons, FAM shall not provide accreditation for any member tagged along other than the officially registered representative.

There have been fierce debates in football circles over the years accusing that Nyamilandu has overstayed as FAM president having served for two decades but he always trounces his opponents at each elective general assembly.

While analysts argue that he has overstayed, football structures don’t have a limit to tenure of office and that voters are the affiliates themselves, who assess Nyamilandu’s management performance.

His management performance was described as outstanding by president for the world football governing body, FIFA, Gianni Infantino when the two met at FIFA’s Paris Bureau last week where he congratulated Nyamilandu’s administration on the beautiful game’s progress in the country.

A report on FIFA website said Infantino and Nyamilandu – a former FIFA Council member who currently sits on the CAF Executive Committee — discussed in what was described as “the highly encouraging development of youth and women’s football in the African country”.

This follows Malawi Scorchers’ triumph of the 2023 COSAFA Women’s Championship last week – Malawi’s first such title – that came on the back of their runners-up finish two years earlier.

Aided by FIFA Forward funds, the renovations to the FAM technical centre in Blantyre, the Mpira Village, have given national teams improved facilities in which to prepare, as observed by FIFA.

And the triumph by the Scorchers — 2-1 against defending champions Zambia after winning all their five matches — is the benefit from the FIFA Forward funds for the Scorchers in particular.

FIFA takes cognizance that many of the squad that have won the COSAFA title are in their teens, adding that youth development is also a particular focus of the FAM, which has ploughed FIFA Forward funding into grassroots football.

The academy in Mzuzu is currently undergoing phased improvements, while Malawi is one of 100 member associations to have launched the FIFA Football for Schools project aimed at giving children skills for life as well as football.

Thus Infantino told the media in Paris: “I must congratulate my friend, Walter on the fantastic work he and his team are doing to develop football in Malawi.

“From a solid financial platform, they have made great use of FIFA Forward funds to complete a number of projects, and already have more in the pipeline.

“They are giving every talent at every level the opportunity to flourish, and their efforts to boost women’s football, in particular, are really pleasing and very clearly bearing fruit.”

Meanwhile, a delegation of 10 people from FIFA and the Agence Francaise de Developmente (AFD) is in the country for a series of meetings with various stakeholders in readiness for the establishment of an inclusive football academy at Luwinga Technical Center in Mzuzu.

Malawi is among the three African alongside Mauritania and Djibouti that were selected to establish inclusive football academies that will among other things teach young players best footballing techniques and how they can prepare for life outside football .

FIFA technical consultant Serame Letsoaka from South Africa and his delegation are expected meet stakeholders from the Ministry of Sports, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Gender, National Youth Football Association, National Coaches Association, UNESCO and UNICEF in Lilongwe from today and tomorrow.

Luwinga Academy is expected to be a model and one of the best football academies in Africa, aimed at producing quality players for Malawi through a structured player development pathway.

The programme is intended to make use of football’s ability to teach life skills such as commitment and teamwork. It aims to prepare academy players to be future citizens, bearing in mind that only a tiny proportion will become professional footballers, and broaden their economic and professional horizons through football, empower them and ensure their employability.

Just on Monday, Nyamilandu led the delegation of NBS Bank and Malawi Red Cross Society to officially hand over four houses to families which were left homeless due to effects of Tropical Cyclone Freddy in March in Ntauchira Village in Chiradzulu District.

The houses were constructed at a cost of K23 million, which were proceeds from the football season opener, the FAM NBS Bank Charity Shield.

FAM, in partnership with NBS Bank, raised a total of K30.1 million in from the Charity Shield match between Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Wanderers in April this year as well as from the Flames Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Egypt which was played at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.

As part of the package, FAM also presented K50,000 cash to each family and household items such as mattresses, blankets, sugar, bags of maize flour and salt worth K2 million.

In May this year, FAM and NBS Bank made a distribution of cash worth K5.5 million to former Flames legends and other football stakeholders who were affected by Cyclone Freddy.

In 2022, FAM, NBS Bank and Malawi Red Cross Society, delivered relief food items to Cyclone Ana flood victims in Chikwawa from the K10.3 million proceeds realised from the Charity Shield.

The food items, that included maize flour, nutritious beef soya pieces and ready-mix Likuni Phala with sugar, were distributed to 986 households that represented 4,930 people, who were in four relief camps.

The FAM Charity Shield was introduced in 2016 as the association’s corporate social responsibility program aimed at engaging, mobilising and inspiring football fans, stakeholders and the public towards a charitable cause of national significance.

The tournament kicks off the football season and since its inauguration, it has reached out to Malawi Blood Transfusion Services (2016); medical equipment for Kamuzu Central Hospital (2017); Braille embosser for Ekwendeni School for the Blind and various physiotherapy and medical equipment to Kachere Rehabilitation Centre (2018).

The 2019 edition reached out to  people living with albinism under the theme ‘One Love – Stop the Killings’, which was through sponsorship from Ecobank — playing an advocacy role against all manner of barbaric acts targeting people living with albinism which reached crisis levels.

The proceeds of the Ecobank Charity Shield were used to procure a rescue vehicle which was donated to Association of People with Albinism in Malawi.