Malawi National Council of Sports has said the process of hiring Flames and other national football team coaches could take some time.
Sports Council chief executive officer Henry Kamata was responding to whether Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has approached them on the issue and how long it would take.
He also confirmed receipt of the technical report which they demanded from FAM before starting the recruitment process.
“We have had a preliminary perusal of the report, and we will be meeting FAM shortly on the report,” said Kamata.
“The proposal to hire national coaches for the national football teams has been on the table for some time now.”
The Sports Council boss said there are a number of areas they need to look into before starting the process.
He said: “We are yet to conclude on the matter. There are technical and contractual issues that we need to look at.
“It’s not as straight forward as people may think or expect. This is not the first time hiring of national coaches has involved government and we have the not so good side of it.
“We need to avoid the challenges that were associated with such contracts; hence, the need to objectively look into the technical contractual issues.”
FAM first vice-president Madalitso Kuyera, who heads the FAM technical subcommittee, was quoted by Zodiak Broadcasting Station on Saturday as having said they want to have a permanent coach in place by the end of the month.
On the prospects of offering interim coach Kallisto Pasuwa a permanent deal, Kuyera said: “It’s already in our plans, but we can’t conclude anything as he might have committed elsewhere.
“What I would say is that everything is under control and when we meet as a committee, we will map the way forward.”
The position of Flames coach fell vacant after the termination of Patrick Mabedi’s contract following a poor run in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in which Malawi lost all their first games.
He was replaced by Pasuwa on an interim basis with Peter Mponda and Pritchard Mwansa as his assistants.
The Flames next assignment is against Namibia’s Brave Warriors in a 2026 World Cup qualifier in March.
