Why FAM wants $20 000 BB guarantee for CAF

FAM will bear the blunt of all penalties Big Bullets might attract when participating in 2015 CAF Champions League, hence the demand that the team must deposit in the association’s bank account $20 000 (K9 million: a conversion of K450 to 1$) as a guarantee.

However, Bullets have differed with FAM’s demand preferring to deposit that amount in the club’s account. The association’s chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda told MBC Radio 2 morning sports programme yesterday that such money would provide a guarantee for all fines such as for red and yellow cards.

“Last time it was Escom United…they registered and withdrew and we had to pay…this time we want to tread carefully…it’s not like we want to punish Bullets…the money will not be touched…it will be theirs,” explained Nyirenda while giving Bullets a deadline of yesterday to deposit the money.

However, in reaction to the same radio, Bullets chairperson Kondie Msungama said he was unsure about regulations CAF and Fifa are using, saying they have a bank account guarantee letter which their general secretary Harold Fote is ready to provide Football Association of Malawi (FAM) to prove that the team has the required amount.

CAF regulations bar for three consecutive editions clubs that have withdrawn from continental competitions after registration.

Club licensing regulations article 12 on financial criteria circulated to all domestic clubs, including Bullets do not mention on the bank deposit guarantee as demanded by FAM but “the licensor (FAM) may develop additional criteria, information requirements and assessment procedures for implementation in the national regulations”.

But CAF regulations back FAM claims that it will bear the blunt of all the costs Bullets will incur through the Bullets’ engagement in the continental league. The first game is away on the weekend of February 13 in Comoros Island against Fomboni Club de Moheil.

CAF regulations article 13 on www.cafonline.com stipulate that national associations [such as FAM] “which have engaged their clubs in the competition take the engagement to play all the matches of the competition”.

“In case of withdrawal, the concerned association shall be responsible for financial and others to be determined by the organising and disciplinary committee of CAF,” article 14 adds.  n