FAM in u-turn
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has backtracked on its earlier decision to raise surety fees for TNM Super League clubs from K1 million to K3 million, which translated to a 200 percent increase.
The move comes barely days after most clubs protested against the revision, arguing that it was exorbitant.
FAM general secretary Alfred Gunda confirmed that the resolution not to increase the surety was made during the new executive committee’s first meeting held last Wednesday.
“The meeting resolved not to raise the surety that Super League clubs pay as part of club licensing from K1 million to K3 million.
“Instead, it was resolved that the focus should be on enforcing the government minimum wage on clubs for players,” he said.
The development comes after FAM licensing and compliance manager Casper Jangale earlier insisted that the association would not rescind its decision.
The meeting also resolved enforcement of mandatory player medical scheme and coaches qualifications’ provisions among others as per club licensing regulations in “the ongoing quest to professionalise the game in the country”.
Karonga United chairperson Alufeyo Chipanga Banda, whose club was among those that protested against the hike, yesterday welcomed FAM’s U-turn.
“It is good that the FAM executive committee has seen the logic not to raise the surety fees considering that most of the clubs are struggling financially.
“We were prepared to pull out from the league if FAM stood firm on its decision,” he said.
Ntopwa FC owner Isaac Jomo Osman has described FAM ex-co’s decision as a relief.
“It’s good that they have listened to the clubs’ plea to rescind the decision because it would have negatively affected the clubs,” he said.
Reacting to the hike two weeks ago, Mighty Tigers board chairperson Sydney Chikoti described it as shocking.
“If we were struggling to raise K1 million in previous seasons, how would we manage to raise K3 million? The K3 million meant for surety is enough to help us cater for players’ allowances for months,” he said.
In a club licensing calendar of events sent to the top-flight league outfits along with invitation to apply for a licence to participate in the 2020 football season a fortnight ago, the local football governing body stated that clubs were supposed to pay the fee by March 1 2020. FAM introduced the surety under club licensing system as a commitment that teams should fulfil their fixtures.
