Fans turn to sports council
C oncerned football supporters have sought the intervention of Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) on their demand that Football Association of Malawi (FAM) should resume this month and not August as FAM proposed.
The group’s spokesperson Mabvuto Chibambo said in an interview yesterday they have done this because FAM is allegedly ignoring their concerns by not giving them any update on their recent petition that the 2020 football season should roll into action to ensure economic sustainability of TNM Super League clubs.
In the follow-up petition addressed to FAM president Walter Nyamilandu, the group complained that “we have been hearing stories that FAM executive committee met and made decisions [pertaining to the petition], which we are not able to find for our perusal”.
In the initial petition, the supporters threatened unspecified action if FAM did not kick-off the Super League by May 30, but in the follow-up petition, they have set end June as the new deadline and not August as FAM suggests.
Chibambo said: “After we presented our petition to FAM last month, we were told that they would discuss the matter and come back to us with the next course of action. However, we have not received such update.
“Now, we have turned to the council hoping they will ably convince FAM to take our concerns seriously.”
MNCS acting executive secretary Henry Mereka yesterday confirmed being approached by the group and receiving their petition.
He, however, said that the council will first assess the current situation to determine whether it is safe for the resumption of sporting activities, including football in the country.
Commenting on the latest development, Nyamilandu appealed for calm from the supporters, saying the most important thing is that FAM has started working on their petition to restart football by August.
“Notices of our resolution were publicised and communicated to all. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. We cannot afford to take the key stakeholders that support us for granted,” he said.
