The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has suspended implementation of the proposed Player’s Welfare Fund until next season, Nation On Sunday has established.
FAM president Walter Nyamilandu confirmed the postponement of the fund, saying there were some areas which needed looking into before implementation starts.
Nyamilandu said: “There were some outstanding issues that needed to be refined or defined like how the fund will be administered, how much will each player get. We are trying to do more research on this. We have engaged Fifa because there are some countries that are implementing this and we are trying to learn how best we can apply it here. This year, we will not be able to implement, but next year definitely we will.”
Super League of Malawi (Sulom) president Innocent Bottoman also confirmed that the player’s welfare fund has been suspended.
“There were a lot of gray areas that need looking into, as such, we suspended the fund. We will be meeting clubs to seek their views on how this fund can be administered. But it is a good concept from FAM and we are wholly in agreement with the project. We are confident that by next year we will be able to successfully implement it,” said Bottoman.
Initially, the Super League of Malawi (Sulom) under FAM directive, deducted three percent from Sulom, FAM and clubs’ gate collections share towards the fund.
Civo United general secretary Thom Machiwa said they will quiz Sulom on what has happened to the money that was deducted.
“The idea of a players’ welfare fund is welcome. When we first started the league there was an allocation from the gate takings towards players’ welfare. We are meeting Sulom as clubs on Saturday [yesterday] where they will present a financial report. We hope to get clarity on the welfare fund,” said Machiwa.
Despite the challenges facing FAM and Sulom in the implementation of the fund, Civo United have set up a welfare fund for the players.
Civo head of technical Ronald Chiwaula said the concept behind the creation of the fund is to solve immediate economic or social problems faced by players.
“This project is the initiative by the current executive committee. It is independent of our sponsors’ government. We sat down and came up with the plan to ensure that the welfare of our players is taken care of. Funding from government delays sometimes and this causes inconvenience to players when they face a problem,” said Chiwaula. n
