Regional football associations have set dates for their elections following FAM’s directive to hold elections within 21 days.
Southern Region Football Association (SRFA) and Central Region Football Association (CRFA) say will hold their polls on March 13 in Mangochi and Salima, respectively while Northern Region Football Association (NRFA) is planning to do the same a week earlier on March 7 at a venue to be announced.
Nominations opened yesterday in all the regions and will close on March 3.
The developments come three days after Football Association of Malawi (FAM) gave the regional bodies 21 days to convene their elective general assemblies and that fresh nominations should be submitted to the local soccer governing body within 10 days.
SRFA vice-general secretary Kingsley Simbeye yesterday said his body is more than ready to hold the polls.
“With guidance from FAM, we are ready to conduct our elections and nominations have already started,” he said.
CRFA general secretary Bernard Chiwuwiru Harawa and his NRFA counterpart Masiya Nyasulu said they are also set for the elections.
“As NRFA, we have set March 7 as tentative date for the polls. However, we are yet to finalise on venue and other logistics,” Nyasulu said.
The elections were initially scheduled for November last year, but were put on hold after the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) instituted investigations into bribery and corruption allegations.
After the investigations, the ACB made a number of recommendations to FAM, including the conducting of fresh nomination processes by the regional associations.
Following the recommendations, FAM executive committee conducted a virtual emergency meeting last week and resolved that the regional polls should be held within 21 days as per the regional football associations’ statutes and article 75 of FAM statutes.
FAM, as returning officer of the forthcoming elections, has since assured all football stakeholders that it will ensure that the elections are conducted in a free and fair manner
