Malawi Under-20 National Football Team coach Enos Chatama has defended his selection of 14 Ekhaya FC players in his 32-member squad for the CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Cosafa Qualifiers.
The heavy representation from Ekhaya FC, where Chatama was fired last week as head coach, raised questions about possible bias, with football analysts questioning whether players from other clubs were assessed fairly.
But Chatama in an interview said the selection was based on the players’ development history and not the clubs they represent.
The coach said Football Association of Malawi (FAM) initially identified about 42 eligible players, before the technical panel selected 32 for the current camp, with the final squad to be determined before departure for Mozambique.
“It’s not a matter of which team they are coming from, it’s a matter of when they started playing for junior teams,” said Chatama.
The coach said 21 of players currently in camp have gone through the national junior development system.
He cited the Regional Five Under-17 tournament hosted by Malawi at Bingu National Stadium in 2022, the Four Nations tournament at Silver Stadium as some of the stages where the players were assessed.
“I have been with some of them since 2022. We participated in the Regional Five Tournament in the Under-17. Some played at the Four Nations Tournament at Silver Stadium.
“The same players went to Mozambique in the Cosafa Under-20 competition. Others, I took to Cosafa Under-20 Championship in 2024 in South Africa. The other group, I went with them to Zimbabwe just last year,” he said.
The coach said his familiarity with the players should be viewed in the context of their long-term development rather than club affiliation.
“I have been with them for several years. Other three years, others four years, others two years. It shows that we are moving in the same path and the players know their coach and the coach knows his players,” he said.
FAM operations director Gomezgani Zakazaka also defended the selection process, saying it was conducted through a nationwide exercise that started at regional level before culminating in final selection and vetting at Chiwembe Technical Centre in Blantyre last week.
“The selection of the Under-20 national team was conducted through a nationwide selection exercise, which started at regional level and culminated in a final selection and vetting exercise at Chiwembe Technical Centre last week,” he said.
He said the exercise gave all eligible players an opportunity to compete for places, with the selected players emerging as the best-performing and most suitable based on the technical team’s assessment and the tournament’s requirements.
“An Under-20 national team is made up of the best eligible Under-20 talent available, regardless of the club, league or academy in which the players currently play,” said Zakazaka.
He said FAM’s technical department also maintains a database of potential players for all junior national teams, with players profiled according to their respective age categories and verified through official documentation and registration records.
“Age eligibility is, therefore, not determined solely at the point of selection. It is part of an ongoing player-profiling and registration process within FAM’s technical structures.
“Their continued progression into the current Under-20 setup demonstrates the continuity of the player-development pathway that FAM is deliberately building,” said Zakazaka.
However, football analyst Twaha Chimuka questioned whether Chatama had enough time to scout players from other parts of the country while coaching Ekhaya in the Airtel Top 8 and FDH Bank Premiership.
He also questioned why all the goalkeepers selected came from Ekhaya.
“Are you telling me the whole country the best goalkeepers are at Ekhaya? If they are, why wasn’t he using all them in matches at the club?” he said.
Malawi are in Group C alongside Zambia, Comoros and Botswana.
Chatama’s charges will begin their campaign against Zambia on September 18.
The Junior Flames finished runners-up at last year’s Cosafa Under-20 Championship in Namibia after losing to South Africa in the final.
