FCB Nyasa Bullets have moved in to address their head coach Peter ‘Mjojo’ Mponda’s absence at pre-match and post-match interviews by ordering him to take responsibility.
In recent matches, the Bullets gaffer has been delegating his assistant Gilbert Chirwa to attend to media engagements.
But ahead of Sunday’s TNM Super League match against against Ekhaya FC there was no pre-match press conference by either Mponda or Chirwa and neither of them gave a post-match interview.
This came when the club directed Chirwa not to grant media interviews when Mponda is around.
A statement released by the club yesterday, reads: “We wish to inform you [the media] that head coach Peter Mponda is the primary point of contact for pre-match and post-match interviews.
“Over the past few weeks, it has been observed that he [Mponda] has been delegating these responsibilities to assistant coach Gilbert Chirwa when he is pretty much around.
“In line with management’s directive, Mr. Chirwa will only participate in interviews in the head coach’s absence or when circumstances necessitate his involvement.”
responsibility.
I Courtesy of FCB Nyasa Bullets
The statement says the reason they did not allow the assistant coach to handle the interviews after their match against Ekhaya FC was because the head coach was around “and there was no need for him to delegate his assistant”.
In an interview yesterday, Bullets acting chief executive officer Albert Chigoga said: “The head coach is under obligation to speak to the media. It is a requirement in professional football.”
On his part, Mponda justified his move to delegate his assistant, saying it was a way of empowering him.
“Of course, I take responsibility as the head coach, but it is about team-work and should not be viewed as running away from my responsibility,” he said.
