Football Association of Malawi (FAM) faces a race against time to assemble a formidable side to participate in the 2024 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (Chan) play-offs which kick-off on February 28.
Apart from Malawi, the other teams that will battle it out in the play-offs are South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Comoros, Gabon and The Gambia.
The seven teams initially withdrew from the competition.
A communique from Confederation of African Football (CAF) to concerned member associations states that the the first round of the play-offs will start at the end of this month.
The statement reads: “Kindly note that the qualifiers for the positions Q1 & Q2 of the TotalEnergies African Nations Champions 2024 will take place in the following dates: The first round first leg will be from February 28 to March 2.The second leg will be from March 7-9.
“The second round first leg will be from May 2-4 while the second leg will be from May 9-11. We are planning to do the draw on the 13th of February.”
With domestic football currently off season since December, the development means FAM has less than three weeks to ensure the players are in shape in readiness for the play-offs in the competition strictly for locals.
FAM competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka in an interview said the technical subcommittee will this week draw up a plan for the preparations.
He said: “We were waiting for CAF to release the programme for the plays offs. Now that they have, the technical subcommittee will meet before the end of the week to draw up the plan for the preparations.
“We only have less than three weeks, so we need to get down to business immediately.”
Zakazaka said the technical subcommittee is also expected to name the technical panel for the team.
“But obviously, in the absence of the Flames permanent head coach, it’s the interim technical panel [headed by Kallisto Pasuwa] which was appointed last year that will be in charge of the team’s preparations until the new coach is appointed.”
The Chan competition normally attracts 16 teams, but with three countries hosting the event, the number has shot to 17 and CAF decided to make it a 19-team tournament.
Although CAF has not indicated the format for the play-offs, the statement from CAF suggests that the games will be played home and away.
Egypt, which is the top-ranked team, will likely be seeded to second round where they will join three winners from the first round.
The four teams will then be paired to identify the two winners to qualify for the finals.
For the already qualified teams, Group A has Kenya, Morocco, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia while Group B has Tanzania, Madagascar, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Central African Republic. Senegal, Congo, Sudan and Nigeria are in Group D.
The two winners from play-offs will fill the two slots in Group C, alongside Uganda, Niger and Guinea.
On whether FAM now has funds for the tournament, Zakazaka said the timing of the qualifiers gave them ample time to plan.
He said: “It’s good this is coming right at the beginning of our financial year and it will be planned accordingly.
“Previously, the problem was that CAF announced about the tournament in June almost halfway into our financial year.”
Malawi has never qualified for the Chan tournament which was introduced in 2007 to promote local players.
In 2020, the Flames were knocked out by E-swatini after a 1-1 draw at Kamuzu Stadium. E-swatini who held Malawi to a goalless draw in Manzini qualified on away goal rule.
In 2022, Malawi failed to make it to the tournament’s final after being booted out by Mozambique.
The Flames were handed a lifeline to the second round following their first round opponents Zimbabwe’s Warriors suspension from international football by Fifa.
In second round, Malawi were held 1-1 by Mozambique at Bingu National Stadium in July and the return leg at Zimpeto Stadium ended goalless for the Mambas to qualify for the final which will be held in Algeria.
Football analyst Raymond Siyaya said Malawi risks another embarrassment if the team does not prepare thoroughly for the play-offs.
He said: “It’s all stacked against Malawi at this point and participation in the play-offs can only make sense if it’s for academic purposes.
“Most of our opponents are active as their leagues are in progress, yet even the status of the head coach and the entire technical panel remains grey for the Flames. Though it is a cliché, but failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”
