FAM promises more international tournament

FAM president Fleetwood Haiya

* I promise you that this is not going to be the last — there are a lot more to come

* This also symbolises that Malawi has talent and if we continue to participate in these tournaments chances are high that our players are going to be spotted and taken abroad

Maravi Express

At the inauguration of the 4th edition of the CAF Women’s Champions League-COSAFA qualifier, Football Association of Malawi (FAM), president Fleetwood Haiya promised of more exciting international events in the country.

Speaking to the media at Mpira Stadium, Haiya lauded the country’s progress in terms of competitiveness of  women’s football and hosting abilities.

“Today we have witnessed the inauguration of this tournament which is the fourth edition of the qualifiers,” he said. “Personally, I believe that this is going to motivate girls who aspires to become footballers.

“I promise you that this is not going to be the last — there are a lot more to come. This also symbolises that Malawi has talent and if we continue to participate in these tournaments chances are high that our players are going to be spotted and taken abroad.

“The girls that are currently plying their trades in foreign countries were spotted in similar competitions — thus, it is important for our clubs and national team to participate in these competitions.”

The FAM president expressed his satisfaction with the progress so far achieved: “I’m very much happy, filled with pride and joy that for the first time we are hosting this tournament. This has never happened before. This underscores our push to holistically develop and transform football.

“Once we have the passion, zeal and dedication from girls who aspire to become better players, it will directly uplift and strengthen our national team.

“Our continued hope is that at the end of the day we are going to have a strong Scorchers team. Therefore, this is good news not only to FAM and the football family but largely to every Malawian.

“This is not the first tournament to host since we took over the mantle in December 2023, you may recall we also hosted the Four Nations men’s tournament in Lilongwe. So you can imagine that within seven months we have hosted these high profile events. I’m sure going into the future expect more good things to come.”

He added export of talent remains the association’s goal and is driven by its strategic plan: “If we export more players we will bring more forex into our economy while we are raising the standards of our game.”

This is the 4th COSAFA tournament FAM is hosting in five years having done so in 2019 for the U-17 Championship at the same Mpira Stadium while in 2022, Lilongwe hosted COSAFA Schools for boys and girls, Girls U-17 and Boys U-17 tournaments.

Present at the inauguration was Sports Minister, Uchizi Mkandawire who said he was positive and upbeat of Malawi’s ability both as a host nation and a participant in the tournament.

“Our team, [Malawi Scorchers] are the current COSAFA Women’s champions and this consolidates the hopes that we have as a nation as far as women’s football is concerned.

“We are very excited and honoured that even our own team Ascent Academy is participating in the tournament which signifies that the standards of our women’s football are improving tremendously.”

He added that the government is very committed in supporting football in general and women’s football in particular, citing construction of stadia across the country.

“We are also supporting all our national teams in all their engagements. For this reason that you can see for yourself a government that is serious in the promotion of sports in general and football in particular.”

Malawi is being represented by FAM Goshen City Women’s National champions, Ascent Soccer, who are up against Young Buffaloes from eSwatini this afternoon at 15h00.

Yesterday, debutantes Herentals Queens of Zimbabwe eased to a comfortable 3-1 win over FC Ongos from Namibia to take the lead of Group A of CAF Women’s Champions League-COSAFA qualifiers which Malawi if hosting at Mpira Village.

Another debutantes, University of the Western Cape (UWC) of South Africa lost 0-1 to 2022 champions Green Buffaloes of Zambia but Herentals Queens lead through goal difference.

The overall winner of the 10-day tournament will book a place at the CAF Women’s Champions League’s ultimate continental finals, joining Mamelodi Sundowns who did not participate in the qualifiers as they had already secured their finals’ slot by virtue of being champions of the COSAFA regional qualifiers.

Entrance for fans to all matches are free of charge but all matches can be watched live as they are streamed on FIFA+.—Reporting by Fam.mw; editing by Maravi Express