Silver cry foul over Pres Cup fixture
Silver Strikers, through one of their trustees McDonald Mafuta-Mwale, have challenged Football Association of Malawi (FAM) to explain how it came up with the criteria on the Presidential Cup.
Mafuta-Mwale said his club is surprised that it will play three games in the play-offs when most teams have played two teach.
“FAM needs to explain the criteria on how they came up with the format because in such circumstances, the playing field is not level,” argued the former Silver chairperson.
He also wondered how the organising committee of the tournament came up with a determination in allocating seven slots for the Southern Region, five for the Centre and four of the North.
“In as far as the records are concerned, the Central Region registered the highest number of participating teams and it also has the highest number of teams in the national [Super] League,” he said.
However, FAM competitions manager Gomezgani Zakazaka said it is not by design that Silver will play three games in the play-offs.
“It is not like the organisers knew that one of the teams would be Silver Strikers, it was just according to the draw.
“And if they [Silver] have concerns as regards the criteria, they should have raised it before the draw. Why now? In fact, we have not received any complaint from their GS [general secretary],” said Zakazaka.
The Bankers will meet Blue Eagles who beat Dwangwa Town Hammers 7-1 in a third round play-off yesterday to determine the fifth team from Central Region.
However, Silver managed to file the complaint yesterday.
The letter, signed by Silver general secretary Thabo Chakaka-Nyirenda, reads: “Silver is scheduled to play Mzuzu University [Mzuni] on Saturday and Karonga United on Sunday in Mzuzu. The team is expected to return to its base on Monday. Coincidentally, the team is expected to play Blue Eagles on Tuesday, thereby giving the team virtually no opportunity to rest let alone to train in readiness for the [Presidential Cup] match.
“ On May 17 the players are supposed to be recuperating from the fatigue arising from the two matches in Mzuzu and the long travel from Mzuzu to Lilongwe. Certainly, proceeding with the match on Tuesday will give our opponents a much more competitive advantage which unarguably runs counter to fair play and fair competition and would also be against the intended spirit for coming up with the Presidential Cup.” n
