FAM to sanction all local tournaments

Football Association of Malawi has said from now onwards, all football competitions will have to be sanctioned by them.

FAM chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda said this in reaction to a move by Blue Eagles FC to seek their intervention following failure by the Fellowship Association of Malawi (Fama) to give them their K4 million (about $12 000 at current exchange rate) prize they won last year.

Six months after the K12 million (about $35 294) tournament ended, Eagles are yet to receive their prize money while losing finalists Big Bullets are also yet to get part of theirs.

“The problem is that we were not involved in the organisation of the tournament and to avoid similar problems from happening again in the future, we will now make it a point that all tournaments which will involve teams affiliated to us will have to be sanctioned by FAM.

“Our duty is to control, regulate and develop the game, therefore, we need to be in control of such competitions.

“While we welcome such tournaments, the organisers need to follow proper procedures to avoid such problems. They need to involve us directly or either through our regional or district committees,” said Nyirenda.

Eagles general secretary Ackis Muwanga told our sister newspaper Weekend Nation that they have been patient with Fama because of their Christian background.

“But what we have discovered is that they are playing hide-and-seek on us. We can no longer reach them on their phones,” said Muwanga.

While confirming that they are yet to pay Eagles their prize money, Fama general secretary Japhet Majekete could not say when they would pay them out.