FAM seeks to get age right
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has moved to get the issue of age right by subjecting Under-17 National Football Team players to an age verification test ahead of the 2022 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Cosafa qualifiers.
The qualifiers will be played as part of the Ausc Region 5 Games Malawi will host in Lilongwe from December 2-11.
FAM competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka said organisers of the competition, Confederation of African Football (CAF), will conduct a mandatory Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) age verification test for players from all participating teams.
He said FAM decided to do its own MRI scan before the CAF-sanctioned one as a precautionary measure.
Zakazaka said: “The rules and regulations state that CAF shall do the MRI scan before the tournament kicks off and if even just one player is overaged, his team will be disqualified.
“So, as a precautionary measure, we decided to do our own MRI scan for all the players so that only those that will pass the test should be in the final squad.
“Chances are that if they pass the MRI test that we are doing right now, they will also pass the CAF-sanctioned one at the tournament.”
The decision comes just two weeks after Malawi representatives in CAF Africa Schools Championship Malindi Secondary School girls’ team won all their matches, but missed the title after organisers docked the team’s six points for featuring over-aged players.
Zakazaka said: “Unlike in CAF Schools Championship where points were deducted and the players withdrawn, for TotalEnergies Under-17 Afcon Cosafa qualifier, the whole team is disqualified from the tournament.”
The development means coach DeKlerk Msakakuona will have to wait for the MRI tests results before he can name his final squad next week.
But the coach, who has been in charge of the Under-17 national team for the past six years, said this time he is confident of winning the championship on home soil despite failing to do so in 2019. Malawi last won the Under-17 championship in 2001.
Msakakuona said: “It has been 20 years now since Malawi won this championship and we have to prepare well for these games. The boys are there to showcase their skills and prove a point by winning.”
Under Msakakuona, Malawi were losing semi-finalists in 2016 and it was a similar story in 2017 when they won all their group games but lost in the last four.
In 2018 and 2019 Malawi never made it past the group stages, but bounced back to finish fourth in 2020 and third in 2021.
Malawi qualified for the African Under-17 Championships, which saw them finishining fourth in 2009 to qualify for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup where they lost all three of their games.
Two finalists will qualify for the 2023 TotalEnergies Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations.
This time Malawi have been drawn alongside Botswana and Namibia in Group A.
