Govt awaits FAM’s report on Kinnah
Kinnah’s two-year contract expires in June this year and the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) recently said they would engage government on the matter.
According to the contract, FAM and government are supposed to start talking to Kinnah three months prior to the end of the contract if there is an intention to renew it.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports Alex Mseka this week said: “We are waiting for their [FAM’s] decision because they are the ones on the ground.
“The national coach works directly with them and as such the actual assessment is supposed to be made by FAM, we only act on an informed decision based on their recommendation,” said Mseka.
He also said government’s decision on Kinnah’s future will be determined by FAM’s report.
But this was in contrast to what FAM president Walter Nyamilandu told Weekend Nation recently, that the final decision on Kinnah’s future would come from government.
“Our [FAM] position is that we will recommend for the extension of the contract, nothing has changed. But we will be guided by them [government] because it is not entirely in our hands. If government says we do not want him, then that will be it, we will have no say because they are the masters, we can only recommend,” Nyamilandu said.
Mseka also said they have advised FAM to act on the matter in good time.
Nyamilandu justified the move to renew Kinnah’s contract saying he has done fairly well although he failed to qualify for 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
“We missed qualification by a whisker which was not a hopeless situation and we did not lose a single game during the campaign.
“The other thing is that he has embarked on a rebuilding exercise,” Nyamilandu said.
Flames self-proclaimed chief supporter Raphael Nasimba, captain Peter Mponda and former national coach Henry Moyo supported FAM’s move to renew Kinnah’s contract, but soccer analyst George Kaudza-Masina tore into FAM for the move declaring that Kinnah has not delivered.
However, Kinnah said his belief is that he has performed and will extend his romance with the Flames.
