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Wanderers hire foreign consultants, to turn professional

Be Forward Wanderers have hired  consultants from Japan and South Korea to help the club take a professional approach in its operations in terms of player development, advancement of coaches’ skills and setting up modern administrative structures.

The experts, who have been in the country for over a week under sponsors Be Forward funding, have been working with Wanderers senior team, youth side and Under-20 outfit.

Wanderers trustees board chairperson Rashid Gaffar (R) presents the consultants with Wafa Wafa Trophy

While refusing to disclose how much Be Forward has injected into the project, Wanderers general secretary Mike Butao said with the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) pushing clubs to run professionally as per the club licensing requirements, it is imperative for his club to be in the forefront embracing modern techniques so as to enhance their operations.

He said the experts will be evaluating Wanderers’ training methods, directly work with the players to know what kind of injuries are common among them and what kind of special training they need to prevent such setbacks.

He added that their reserves and under-20 teams played against each other in a curtain-raiser to the main team’s strength-testing match against Mafco at Kamuzu Stadium last weekend as a deliberate plan to let the experts evaluate all Wanderers players in a game situation.

Recently, the Nomads were the best during the club licensing test that saw seven local clubs acquiring full licences to contest in the 2017 TNM Super League and Butao said they would like to continue being the best in the country by pioneering the adoption of modern ways of running a football club.

“We are taking a professional approach in our operations. These experts are not only helping us polish our technical expertise, but also assisting us in setting up administrative structures such as coaches’ offices. They will as well help us erect a special gym that would ensure the players improve performance on the ground,” Butao said.

“So far, they are setting up the model of the project as they return to Japan this week. However, it is a continuous process and they will be back in the country later this year to review progress.”

Football analyst George Kaudza Masina said Wanderers’ initiative is a big step towards making Malawi football professional.

“This just shows how serious Be Forward, as sponsors, are in making Wanderers a professional football club. The Nomads’ initiative also shows that there is a lot that Super League clubs need to do to ensure they truly embrace club licensing requirements,” he said.

Recently, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) club licencing manager Casper Jangale warned that despite obtaining licences, clubs risk having them revoked if they do not improve.  

 

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