Ministry provides direction on assistant coaches’ recruitment
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has unveiled plans to hire permanent assistant coaches for the Malawi National Football Team. and has since asked the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture for assistance.
The move comes a week after Lilongwe-based FDH Bank Premiership outfits Masters Security FC and Silver Strikers declined FAM’s request to release their head coaches Peter Mponda and Peter Mgangira, respectively, for national duty ahead of the upcoming four-nations tournament in Botswana.
Apart from head coach Kallisto Pasuwa who is on contract, the rest of his backroom staff work on a part time basis.
Posting on his Facebook page, FAM president Fleetwood Haiya said he took up the issue with Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Alfred Gangata during their meeting in Lilongwe on Friday.
Part of the post reads: “During the meeting, we apprised the minister on the current status of our national teams, both senior and junior. We also reminded him of the need for government support in recruiting permanent assistant coaches for our senior national teams.
“Additionally, we raised the matter of the outstanding government arrears for the 2025/26 period.”
Commenting on the same issue, FAM operations director Gomezgani Zakazaka said the intention to have permanent assistant coaches has always been there, but funding has been a stumbling block.
“On the current situation, the move by clubs not to release their coaches is a special case as they are preparing for the new season,” he said.
“Otherwise, we no longer have long camps only that this time the coach felt it necessary because the players are coming from off-season; hence, the need to work on their fitness.”
Zakazaka expressed optimism on the coaches’ availability in future as the team only camps during the week leading to games in Fifa international windows.
“During such periods, clubs are not involved in competitive matches. But having said that, the best situation is still to have permanent assistant coaches,” he said.
Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture spokesperson Macmillan Mwale confirmed in an interview that the assistant coaches’ issue was raised during the meeting.
“But if they [FAM] want to employ assistant coaches, they can do it through their grant from government. As long as ot is within the [K3 billion] allocation they got, then it is fine. But I do not think it would be proper to make a request for extra funding just to cover the assistant coaches’ perks,” he said.
Pasuwa has since replaced Mgangira with Fischer Kondowe as physical trainer and is currently working with the second assistant coach Pritchard Mwansa of Moyale Barracks FC.
