Nyamilandu receiving the mini van from UEFA’s Marie Clerc
* We are delighted to support FAM in their continuous efforts to develop youth football across their territory—UEFA
* It has come at the right time when we are trying to broaden the scope of youth football programmes—Nyamilandu
Fam.mw
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has donated a brand-new 16-seater Nissan mini van to Football Association of Malawi to be used for youth football development — which is part of three UEFA Assists programmes to Malawi under the infrastructure projects.
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The mini van, worth K35 million, was donated on the sidelines of a UEFA Assist Leadership retreat at Ku Chawe Inn in Zomba on Friday by UEFA Assist Project team member, Marie Clerc, who said the bus should help to implement youth programmes.
“We are delighted to support FAM in their continuous efforts to develop youth football across their territory,” Clerc said, adding that “there is more infrastructure programmes that FAM is entitled to apply in the next phase”.
In his vote of thanks, FAM president Walter Nyamilandu said the mini van “is a unique gift, and it will go a long way to help our plans to develop youth football in the country.
“Coaches who have to travel across the country to implement developmental programmes will be assisted with travel. It has come at the right time when we are trying to broaden the scope of youth football programmes where mobility is a challenge and having such an infrastructure is very helpful and we will be able to make huge savings on transportation.”
The UEFA Assist, which was launched in 2017, aims to enhance football development and increase solidarity to tackle the needs of confederations and national associations outside of Europe.
At the Assist Leadership Retreat, Nyamilandu emphasized that FAM is committed to fulfilling the ‘Raising the Bar’ strategic focus areas.
The retreat, which was aimed at reviewing the Raising the Bar strategic direction after two years of its inception, has produced a short-term operational plan focusing on three key strategic areas — Governance and Administration, Techncial Development and Income Generation.
“It was important that two years after we launched the Raising the Bar, we needed to see how far we have gone, where we are and what we need to do close the gap,” Nyamilandu said.
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“UEFA having interacted with our stakeholders, gave us the feedback on what we need to do for us to move forward. They have helped us to produce a blueprint that can help us realize our plans in the short term and some in the long term.
“So, we are focusing on short term plans that we can achieve within one year but also laying foundation for the long term as it is key for sustainability. We have identified three key pillars that we need to work on.”
Marie Clerc said the European football governing body will continue to work with FAM in the next six months to ensure the plan is implemented.
“We look forward to continuing our collaboration with FAM on future projects. So, we have produced an action plan that must be implemented for the future of Malawi football in line with strategic plan and the Manifesto in the next 12 months. We will continue giving FAM support to achieve the plan,” she said.
