FAM for loyal Flames

Football players that have a knack of protesting meagre allowances will have no space in the next Flames’ squad as FAM now wants loyal and disciplined players who put national pride above financial gains.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu disclosed the new approach on Wednesday. He said players will be required to sign a code of conduct before being admitted into the national team camp.

Those that will not go by the regulations will be expelled and not considered for future selection, the FAM leader said.

He,however, said they have set proper channels for players to follow to present their grievances to the authorities.

According to the new arrangement, players will be required to submit their complaints to the team manager, who will forward them to the coach and later to FAM.

“We do not want to have players that play for money, but national pride. Patriotism must be the priority. Monetary gains should follow as a reward for good performance and not vice versa,” said Nyamilandu.

According to him, national team allowances are not mandatory because they are just a token of appreciation for representing the country. He said, elsewhere, it is football clubs the players belong to that pay them salaries.

However, the development has attracted mixed feelings among local football stars.

Former Flames captain James Sangala denounced the initiative as devilish, aimed at enslaving the players and suppressing their right to express themselves while ex-Flames winger Fischer ‘Anong’a’ Kondowe feels it is an excellent idea that should have been implemented long ago.

“If they had introduced this evil idea when I was playing for the national team recently, I could have quit immediately. It is unfortunate that FAM wants to be dictatorial in the running of the Flames,” said Sangala.

He said FAM knows what players deserve to get for playing for the national team elsewhere, but it is feigning ignorance to oppress the unsuspecting local players.

“Elsewhere, a player gets richer the more he plays for the national team. In fact, when I played for Angolan clubs recently, people there thought I was very rich considering that I had been in the national team for eight years.

“In Angola, a national team player can earn an equivalent of what I got in eight years in a year.

“It is either FAM is deliberately ignorant of this fact or they just want to fool people and oppress the players. What they are doing is unacceptable,” said Sangala.

But Kondowe feels the initiative is long overdue.

He, however, suggested that FAM should document rules and regulations for national team duties and distribute them to all selected Flames players for perusal.

“I always believe that money should follow you after doing a good job. I have always been saying this to my teammates both at club and national levels,” said Kondowe.

FAM’s introduction of a code of conduct, which also aims at curbing some players’ tendency of leaving camp without their coaches’ permission, was one of FAM’s resolutions at its recent executive committee meeting in Mzuzu.

The loyalty aspect probably came up because of last December’s incident whereby Flames players boycotted training in protest of non-payment of their allowances. Then, the players petitioned FAM demanding allowances during the Confederation of East and Central African Football Associations (Cecafa) Championships in Uganda.

For the past few years, FAM has been receiving K70 million from the national budget against their proposed K500 million (US$1 250 000) budget, necessitating frequent requests for extra funding.

Currently, Flames players receive K30 000 (US$75) bonus each for a win, which is almost four times less than what national team players get in other Sadc countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa.