FAM, SULOM Warn clubs

 FAM says any player that will not be registered through the domestic transfer matching system (DTMS) by the April 13 deadline will be declared null and void.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) licensing and compliance manager Casper Jangale yesterday said despite the system being mandatory, some clubs are stuck in the past using manual system.

He said: “We had a meeting with Sulom [Super League of Malawi] where we came up with the deadline and players that will not be registered through the DTMS will not be recognised.

“Whether they [clubs] like it or not, they have to embrace the new system so too all other stakeholders.

“This system was introduced some years back and it became mandatory by October 18 [last year] and surely by now, we all should have been on the same page.”

Jangale said Fifa gave associations grace period, “but from July 1, they will be fining clubs and we do not want to suffer due to other parties’ inefficiencies”.

He further said they expect Sulom’s full participation in the process.

“As it stands now, all the transfers are pending until they are uploaded on DTMS, then Sulom can confirm and thereafter FAM will approve,” he said.

However, Jangale could not be drawn to disclose names of the clubs that are not adhering to the system.

Confirming the development, Sulom general secretary (GS) Williams Banda said: “Indeed, we resolved transfers and only allowed clubs to upload the agreed transfers up to April 13. Failure shall lead to penalties.”

However, four clubs that we spoke to yesterday—Be Forward Wanderers, Silver Strikers, Blue Eagles and Ntopwa FC— insisted that they are already using DTMS.

Wanderers GS Victor Maunde said FAM should have mentioned the teams not using the system.

“Generalising the issue won’t help much. FAM should have mentioned names of the teams that are not following the process. Otherwise, as Wanderers, we use the system, if anything, there might just be a few pending ones, including Vitumbiko Kumwenda, whom we have signed as a free agent after terminating his contract with Blue Eagles,” he said.

Silver spokesperson David Daniel Dauda, whose club has roped in a number of new players, said: “We processed all transfers through DTMS and registered our players using Mpira Connect.

“It’s easier because it gives us a lot of information upon request from other clubs and helps in tracking a player’s record.”

Eagles chairperson Alexander Ngwala and Ntopwa FC owner Isaac Jomo Osman said they completed all transfers using DTMS