NEWS | SPORTS

• slip-ups on U20 Players
• media blackout on Morocco journey

By Chifundo Zingunde

Malawi, is a country that is full of comedians, be it political, musical….you name it!! The football world has not been spared as well.

We’re a country that is adept at formulating glittering policies, but implementation of the same becomes a hassle.   Take our FA for example. Here’s an organization that does not know how vital record keeping, and information management in general is.

You think this is an over-statement? Be my guest!

It’s common knowledge that the junior leagues are the backbone of any country’s football development. We all know how vital junior leagues, and trophies are to our senior Flames. However, from the look of things, the rest of the footballing world knows this, save for them guys at FAM.

This is why serious-minded FAs elsewhere have rich information banks about which player played for which league, at both Junior, and senior levels. This is not to mention such particulars as date of births and what have yous.

But thanks to the Football Association of Malawi; such an archive doesn’t exist! This is why it had the guts of authorizing/ calling or whatever befits the situation overaged players in the likes of Mark Fodya and six others to an under 20 camp.

Though the seven were later sent packing, it has raised eye brows onto most of us From the Terraces. Why would the whole FA call into camp players who had once donned  the very same jersey three years ago? Should we say somebody within the FA echelons had all but forgotten about these lads? Doesn’t the FA have a rich information bank that can be recording such issues?

We smell a rat here!!! Is the FA really that serious with youth development? How many might have ever gone scot-free from a similar gesture in the past? Some of us are therefore not flabbergasted when we see most of our players running out of steam once they claim to clock 30 years old even though elsewhere, others are at their peak by the very same age?

It’s high time the FA wakes up from its deep slumber. What would have happened if this could have been identified during an international tourney?

Let’s not push for results; let patience take her toll. Groom these youngsters and later on, we’re going to enjoy the sweet fruits.  

……………Information vacuum hits FA

 When the National Team travelled to Morocco, questions were raised by the media on the number of delegations that went to the northern African country to the extent that others joked that “FAM had travelled with the whole village”.

Well, footballing ears were waiting for an official statement from the governing body upon the return of the entourage. But our FA didn’t think that way.

Yours Truly shares Mike Bango’s sentiments that the media fraternity deserves to know, who paid for the expenses, and all that tidbits for the trip.  We from the Terraces deserve to know all this. So if people are becoming suspicious with the information blackout, speculations are the order of the day.