Flames coach to be named next week

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) says it is waiting for a report from its technical committee on the recruitment of the Flames coach.

Former Flames interim coach Patrick ‘General’ Mabedi’s five-month contract expired soon after Malawi’s  last 2023 Africa Cup of Nations’ (Afcon) qualifier against the Syli Nationale of Guinea on September 9.

The association has missed the target it set earlier to hire the next Flames coach by two weeks, having earlier indicated that it would finalise the process by end of September.

In an interview yesterday, FAM president Walter Nyamilandu said: “We are waiting for an official report from the technical sub-committee which met last Saturday to deliberate on the recruitment of the head coach.”

But in a separate interview, the association’s general secretary Alfred Gunda said they expect to conclude the process next week.

“By Wednesday, we should have concluded everything,” he said.

Weekend Nation has established that FAM technical committee met last week to go through Mabedi’s report for the eight games that he was in charge.

“But it wasn’t discussed as the report was very brief and the coach himself [Mabedi] wasn’t there,” said a source.

Last month, FAM president Walter Nyamilandu said they would speed up the process of hiring the next coach so that he could have ample time to prepare for the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Liberia and Tunisia scheduled for next month.

Should the coach be unveiled next week, he will have three weeks to prepare for the first home qualifier against the Lone Star of Liberia scheduled for November 13.

Last month, the FAM GS said they would first assess Mabedi before casting the net wider.

He said over 50 coaches had applied for the Flames job which fell vacant after the removal of Romanian Mario Marinica following a string of poor results.

The odds appear to favour Mabedi as apart from being FAM’s first option, Nyamilandu last month said personally, he was impressed with his performance.

He said: “He has built a new squad and turned around the performance of the Flames within a short period.

“We are playing with more flair and purpose than before. There is more satisfaction from everybody than doom and gloom.

“It is only right and proper to give credit where it is due.”

Under Mabedi’s tutelage, the Flames did not lose in open play in eight matches, but they only won three and drew the rest.

Malawi also reached the last four at the Cosafa Cup for the first time in 20 years.