Dual citizenship gives sports hope
Parliament’s amendment of the Citizenship Act to allow dual citizenship has given the domestic sports fraternity, especially Football Association of Malawi (FAM), hope for improved national team competitiveness in international competitions.
Members of Parliament (MPs) on Wednesday passed the Bill, which Minister of Homeland Security Nicholas Dausi tabled in the National Assembly, to be in line “with modern global and regional trends that will allow bonafide indigenous Malawians, who have acquired citizenship in other countries, to contribute to the country’s socio-economic development.”
Sports teams such the Flames have been ineligible to use some of the country’s talented players with dual citizenship, hence FAM president Walter Nyamilandu’s excitement with the latest news.
“This is very good news for sports development and a move in the right direction. I commend the State President [Peter Mutharika who promised to review the Act in 2016], the government and the Parliament for this landmark decision,” he said.
“Now, athletes in the Diaspora stand a chance to play for their home country. We lost out in the past as we failed to call for national duty professional players of Malawian origin, but with foreign citizenship due to dual citizenship complications.”
In the past, players such as UK-based former West Brom Albion defender Tamika Mkandawire, Zimbabwe’s Benjani Mwaruwari and the late Phumlani Dindi of South Africa were denied opportunities feature for the Flames because they could not renounce citizenship of their respective countries.
Flames legend and former national team coach Ernest Mtawali was also once prohibited from playing for the national team against Morocco in the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers at Kamuzu Stadium in 2004 while already in camp because, then, he held a South African passport. His father was a Malawian, but his mother a South African.
Another player, who could have featured for Malawi, was Elias Tsabalaka, who played in Swaziland. His father was a Malawian and his mother is a Zimbabwean. Famous Ghanaian goalkeeper Thom Aido, who played for Be Forward Wanderers for years alongside Nyamilandu, could have been naturalised to represent Malawi if the country’s laws allowed dual citizenship.
At present, there are a number of promising young Malawian talents in the European youth teams such as Manchester City Under-12’s Theo Kampango and Chelsea Under-15’s Okoma Kulisewa, who could have been affected had the Citizenship Act not been amended.
“The only one we have on record was Tamika but we have had a lot of informal inquiries of players interested to represent Malawi,” Nyamilandu said. “There are a lot of youngsters holding foreign nationalities, but with Malawian parents living abroad, who are in top academies or youth clubs. These are the children we will target to strengthen the national team.”
Dual citizenship has helped nations such as France to have high quality national football teams that effectively win the World Cup. Almost 80 percent of France’s national team players that won the 2018 World Cup have origins from other nationalities. France has Manchester United star Paul Pogba, whose elder brothers Florentin Peile and Mathias Fassou represent Guinea national team.
Former Flames midfielder John Maduka, who is assistant coach for South Africa Premier Soccer League outfit Bloemfontein Celtic and holds a South African passport, yesterday said: “This is a very good move as it will help Malawians that have citizenship in other countries to be able to do business and invest in their country of origin.”
South Africa-based prominent boxer Isaac Chilemba, who was previously tempted to switch citizenship but changed his mind after meeting former president the late Bingu wa Mutharika, yesterday described the amendment as “fantastic” news.
“Wow! That is awesome. This will do wonders to most people needing a citizenship of Malawi but not wanting to lose their current status.
Athletics Association of Malawi (AAM) general secretary Frank Chitembeya welcomed the passing of the dual citizenship law, saying it will greatly improve the standards of Malawi sports and make the country proud on the international stage.
“Most Malawians in Diaspora are exposed to better training facilities and they are very capable of winning us medals at international events. Dual citizenship will help us have well developed athletes that can ably put the country on the international map,” he said.