Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has reversed its policy of treating the Cosafa Cup as a developmental tournament and will let coach Kallisto Pasuwa feature a full-strength Flames at the regional competition scheduled for Bloemfontein, South Africa, from June 4 to15.
The development comes after FAM announced last year that it would be sending the Under-23 national team to the tournament.
The change in policy was a departure from the association’s habit of sending a full-strength squad to the developmental tournament while other countries send second string sides.
FAM technical subcommittee chairperson Christopher Madalitso Kuyera in an interview during the week said they have reversed the decision as they want the Flames to use the tournament to prepare for the upcoming 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
He said: “There has been a policy change. We will not send the under-23 to the Cosafa Cup.
“Since the tournament will be held during Fifa window, this is an opportunity to use the tournament to prepare for World Cup qualifiers.
“This means the technical panel will be free to select any player they want for the Cosafa Cup. There will be no restrictions.”
In a statement, Cosafa
also said they want the competition to help teams tune-up before they resume their 2026 Fifa World Cup qualification campaigns in September, giving them the potential for as many as five fixtures.
But in an interview, football analyst Twaha Chimuka said this will not work to the advantage of Malawi.
He said: “I don’t think this matters because we are technically out of the World Cup race. So, collectively, both Cosafa Cup and World Cup qualifiers should be treated as friendly matches so that they can be used to build the team for the future.
“In a country where friendlies are difficult to come by, sending an under-23 side may do us good because that will help build a team and lower expectations which may help the team perform better as well as giving room to young players, who have potential to play for the Flames in the future as we aim to qualify for 2027 Afcon [Africa Cup of Nations].”
The Flames are in Group B alongside defending champions Angola, 2015 champions Namibia and 2024 finalists Lesotho.
Group A has hosts South Africa, Mozambique, Mauritius and Zimbabwe while Group C has first-time guests Morocco alongside Madagascar and E-swatini.
Seven-time champions Zambia have been drawn in Group D with Comoros and Botswana.
The Flames will start their campaign against Lesotho’s Likuena on June 5. Their next fixture is on June 8 against Namibia.
Malawi will wrap up their group stage matches against Angola on June 10. All the games will kick off at 15:00hrs.
The top team in each pool advances to the semi-finals, with winner of Group A to face the top side in Group D, and the leading team in Group B will be up against the top team in Group C.
Malawi will be returning to the competition after missing the last edition as the country was in mourning period following the death of vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others in a plane crash in Nthungwa, Viphya Plantations, Nkhata Bay.
In 2023, Malawi under Patrick Mabedi qualified for the Cosafa Cup semi-finals for the first time in 20 years.
The Flames then lost to Lesotho on post-match penalties in semis and South Africa also on post-match penalties in a third-place play-off.
