Blantyre, Malawi, January 05: The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) decision to set a minimum qualification standard for coaches managing elite league clubs has stirred controversy, with fears that some coaches will lose their jobs if it is implemented.
Malawi FA officials told the local media that the association has set a CAF B Licence or its equivalent as a minimum qualification for coaches who will be given coaching responsibility in the country top flight league.
Malawi FA officials told the local media that the association has set a CAF B Licence or its equivalent as a minimum qualification for coaches who will be given coaching responsibility in the country top flight league.
Malawi FA vice president, James Mwenda said the association has come up with the decision to improve both the standards of the game and the coaching itself.
“If we are to talk about the development of the football game in the country, we have to start with the coaches. We have entertained mediocrity for so long. As FA we have resolved that we will only allow qualified coaches to manage our elite clubs.
“It is for this reason that as FA we decided that from next season [to kick off in April] we should only allow coaches with a minimum qualification of a CAF B Licence or above to manage top flight league teams, “he explained.
However this has not gone down well with some clubs officials and coaches who are of the view that the local FA decision is ill-timed and should have been implemented in phases.
Eliah Kananji who coaches one of the country’s popular soccer clubs Be Forward Wanderers Football Club has described the FA latest decision which comes into effect in April this year as unfair.
“FAM rarely conducts such courses.So where do they want us to get the licences? Should we dig them from the ground? It’s not fair at all,” said Kananji.
His club general secretary Mike Butao is also not in agreement with the measure the FA has taken arguing it had been rushed and it needed to be implemented gradually.
“We need to implement such measures in phases. We would have started gradually by ensuring that all without the minimum standard qualification are trained. I suggest 2017 would have been preferred starting point,” he told one local radio.
Nonetheless, the FA has argued that it has not just come with the decision out of the blue but it is simply implementing what Confederation of Africa Football Federation (CAF) set and the local association, as well as, its local affiliates approved.
“We are not reversing our plans to enforce the resolution next season because we already alerted the clubs last season,” explained FAM technical director John Kaputa.
Meanwhile, the current Super League Champions of Malawi, Nyasa Big Bullets whose coach Mabvuto Lungu will also be affected by the measure said it has not decided the fate of its coach.
However, Lungu who guided Bullets to defend its title in the just ended season might be spared the rod as he has been designated to attend a UEFA coaching course next month in Germany, according to his team manager, Rahim Ishmael.
“If he is successful then his qualification will be the same as B Licence which FAM is demanding. We just hope that he will do well there,” said Ishmael.
“If we are to talk about the development of the football game in the country, we have to start with the coaches. We have entertained mediocrity for so long. As FA we have resolved that we will only allow qualified coaches to manage our elite clubs.
“It is for this reason that as FA we decided that from next season [to kick off in April] we should only allow coaches with a minimum qualification of a CAF B Licence or above to manage top flight league teams, “he explained.
However this has not gone down well with some clubs officials and coaches who are of the view that the local FA decision is ill-timed and should have been implemented in phases.
Eliah Kananji who coaches one of the country’s popular soccer clubs Be Forward Wanderers Football Club has described the FA latest decision which comes into effect in April this year as unfair.
“FAM rarely conducts such courses.So where do they want us to get the licences? Should we dig them from the ground? It’s not fair at all,” said Kananji.
His club general secretary Mike Butao is also not in agreement with the measure the FA has taken arguing it had been rushed and it needed to be implemented gradually.
“We need to implement such measures in phases. We would have started gradually by ensuring that all without the minimum standard qualification are trained. I suggest 2017 would have been preferred starting point,” he told one local radio.
Nonetheless, the FA has argued that it has not just come with the decision out of the blue but it is simply implementing what Confederation of Africa Football Federation (CAF) set and the local association, as well as, its local affiliates approved.
“We are not reversing our plans to enforce the resolution next season because we already alerted the clubs last season,” explained FAM technical director John Kaputa.
Meanwhile, the current Super League Champions of Malawi, Nyasa Big Bullets whose coach Mabvuto Lungu will also be affected by the measure said it has not decided the fate of its coach.
However, Lungu who guided Bullets to defend its title in the just ended season might be spared the rod as he has been designated to attend a UEFA coaching course next month in Germany, according to his team manager, Rahim Ishmael.
“If he is successful then his qualification will be the same as B Licence which FAM is demanding. We just hope that he will do well there,” said Ishmael.
By: Joel Chirwa
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