FAM in race against time to hire Flames coach
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has acknowledged facing a race against time to hire Flames coach ahead of the Cosafa Cup scheduled for next month end.
The post is vacant after FAM and immediate-past coach Mario Marinica agreed not to extend his contract which expires at the end of this month.
The Romanian has since proceeded on leave.
In an interview yesterday, the association’s president Walter Nyamilandu said there is not much time ahead of the regional showpiece.
He said: “We have the Cosafa Cup coming up end of next month to early June; hence, the need to fill up the position as soon as possible.”
Nyamilandu said the FAM executive committee is scheduled to meet this month end to determine the way forward.
He said: “We will ascertain about the process and potential candidates once the executive committee meets this month end to deliberate on the proposals received and look at the alternative options.”
Nyamilandu said in the meantime, FAM is seeking guidance from the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Malawi National Council of Sports.
“We will also consider views of our technical sub-committee to enable the executive committee make an informed decision.”
The FAM technical sub-committee recently recommended FCB Nyasa Bullets coach Kalisto Pasuwa as interim coach with former Mighty Mukuru Wanderers coach Alex Ngwira and Patrick Mabedi, who was also part of Marinica’s backroom staff, as his assistants to oversee the Cosafa Cup and the remaining 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers against Guinea and Ethiopia.
Pressure piled up for Marinica after the Flames lost their recent back-to-back qualifiers against the Pharaohs of Egypt.
Malawi lost 2-0 away in Cairo on March 24 before suffering a 0-4 humiliation at home four days later in the reverse fixture.
Meanwhile, the National Football Coaches Association has urged FAM to consider hiring a local coach in the interim.
The association’s chairperson Aubrey Nankhuni said the Cosafa Cup provides an opportunity for FAM to try local coaches.
He said: “The Cosafa Cup is a tournament for predominantly local and upcoming players and local coaches would be ideal because they know these players.
“I insist that we have good local coaches that can perform given the necessary support.”
