Football transfer market dormant
Despite recent numerous talks by Super League teams on recruiting players, only one player has been cleared this far by the Super League of Malawi (Sulom), three days before the start of the new season.
Ibrahim Sadik’s move from Bvumbwe Research to Epac FC is the only deal transacted so far, almost seven weeks since the transfer window opened.
Top teams such as Bullets FC, Mighty Wanderers, Tigers and Kamuzu Barracks have been busy enticing new players to join them but none is yet to make an official move on the players training with them.
Bullets want to sign Brown Mizeye and Lawson Chilewe from Blantyre United as well as making Dalitso Sailesi’s loan deal permanent.
Bullets general secretary Higger Mkandawire blamed the delay on the new rule that requires clubs to sign contracts with players before clearing them with Sulom.
“We are putting our house in order first by drafting standard contracts for the players as well as signing contracts with the teams that own the players. We believe we still have time to clear the players before we play our first game on Sunday,” said Mkandawire.
Wanderers general secretary David Kanyenda said they are struggling to clear the players because their teams are charging exorbitant fees.
The Nomads want to sign big-name players such as Kondwani Lufeyo (Tigers), Tony Chitsulo (Silver) and Noel Mkandawire, Jacob Ngwira and Bernard Harawa (Escom).
“So we are still bargaining and discussions are still going on,” he said.
He added that they could not go ahead with negotiations in the past weeks as their sponsorship future with Carlsberg was still in the dark.
“We needed to know our financial position before venturing into the market and now that Carlsberg has assured us of sponsorship, we can now start planning on the transfers,” said Kanyenda.
Blantyre United chairperson Lawson Nakoma said his team will not release any player before payment.
Sulom general secretary Williams Banda said apart from the players’ deals, teams have also not completed registration.
“By registration we mean paying affiliation fees and returning registration forms for players and none of the 15 teams has done so. Teams need to learn to do things in time because they come with the forms on the eve of the games and it makes our job difficult,” said Banda.
