Humba vs missi in srfa polls
Southern Region Football Association chairperson Raphael Humba will face Mabvuto Missi in the battle for the region’s top position at elections set for December 17.
Missi, who has just relinquished the position of National Youth Football Association (NYFA) leadership, has challenged the incumbent in what promises to be a heavily contested polls.
Unlike his Central and Northern Region counterparts Austin Ajawa and Lameck Khonje, who respectively reclaimed the hot-seats unopposed a week ago, Humba will have to outsmart Missi.
Ironically, both Humba and Missi were groomed by Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu as sports administrators and were bedfellows in their mentor’s campaign in the run up to FAM elections last year.
But Missi said it was time to take over the mantle at SRFA.
He said: “I can confidently say I am interested to vie for the SRFA leadership post. So far, I have already drafted my manifesto in readiness for the elections. I have been approached to help the SRFA scale the desired heights of success. Nevertheless, it is a tricky challenge because I will need a detailed approach to get fully acquainted with all the people in the system, given that we only have two weeks to the elections. In spite of that, I am hopeful that I will get nominated and win the hot seat.”
But Humba, who has been running SRFA in the past two years, said he has no problem facing opposition from a “good friend” during the polls that will see the winner having a four-year tenure.
“Competition is healthy in a democracy. However, let me plead with Missi to immediately withdraw his interest to compete against me to avoid being embarrassed during the actual elections. I respect him as a good football administrator, but competing against me is suicidal,” he said.
Mangochi district football association chairperson Darwin Nhlane and his Chiradzulu counterpart Francis Malunguza said they will vote for candidates based on their track records and manifestos.
“The candidates should bring their manifestos so we can weigh the options on the best individual to lead us,” Malunguza said.
Missi said once elected, he will change the format of the premier and first division to help teams cut travel costs by competing at district level while regional finals will be for teams vying TNM Super League promotion.
He said he will also ensure that they fully support financially materially any SRFA team that earns elite league promotion and will lobby for the improvement of infrastructure for lower division clubs.
Humba said he will convince Master Security to maintain SRFA league sponsorship and will hunt for sponsorship at district level. He also promised to help SRFA newly promoted teams survive relegation in the Super League. n
