TD interviews face Covid-19 challenge

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) faces a challenge on how to interview expatriates for the post of technical director [TD] due to the Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Government,  through the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, announced last week level three Covid-19 response which includes an international travel ban except for Malawians returning home or special clearances for essential service providers.

With FAM looking for candidates with Pro-Football coaching licence which no Malawian has, most of the interested candidates are expatriates.

FAM general secretary Alfred Gunda said the challenge  is on how to interview them.

He said: “The interview for the post requires both theory and practical sessions.  For those within the country,  that will not be a problem.  But for those outside the country,  it will be a challenge.”

Some of the candidates are based in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, according to our sources.

Gunda said the FAM technical subcommittee  is expected to come up with a solution to the matter.

“A decision should be made by the end of the week after meeting the technical  subcommittee,” he said.

FAM technical subcommittee chairperson Tiya Somba-Banda said a decision on the matter will be made after shortlisting the candidates.

“Let’s cross the bridge when we reach the river. But options are there for us. One of them is the virtual interviews,” he said.

Although FAM is yet to announce the names of the shortlisted candidates, local coaches interested in the job include former Flames coaches Eddingtone Ng’onamo and Kinnah Phiri, who hold CAF A licence as well as former Mzuzu Warriors and Chitipa United coach Alex Ngwira.

One of the expatriates is former Zambia Football Association technical director Honour Janza.

The position fell vacant following the retirement of John Kaputa who served on the post from 2013.