Flames risk playing in preliminaries

The Flames inactivity could see them slump further on Coca- Cola Fifa World Rankings leading to playing in the preliminaries of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

According to a communique from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the 10 bottom ranked teams will be involved in preliminary games that will be played in July next year and will be divided into five groups of two teams each which will play on home and away basis.

“The five qualifying teams will join the other 43 teams to form 12 groups of four teams each [for the qualifying phase] to be played between September and November next year.

“The winner from each group will qualify for the finals along with the three second best teams,” reads part of the communique.

The next rankings are set to be released next Thursday and the Flames are just eight steps away from the danger zone as they are currently ranked 35th on the continent and 121 in the world.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda and seasoned tactician Yasin ‘Titch’ Osman said there is need to exercise caution although the Flames appear to be in the comfort zone for now.

“We are unlikely to play an international match between now and the time of the draw [to be held either next month or beginning of February], which means we could drop on Fifa rankings.

“So, we might appear to be safe for now, but the reality is that we are certainly not out of danger,” said Nyirenda yesterday.

Osman said according to recent trends in the rankings, anything can happen.

“We have seen teams drop or rise 10 places and considering our team’s inactivity, we could slump even further.

“It is a pity that we have no coach and FAM had no money to arrange an international friendly match during the Fifa calendar date last month. Otherwise it would spell doom,” said Osman.

Former Flames on-field leader Peter Mponda noted that the Flames would have a tight schedule if they were to be involved in preliminary games.

“It would be an arduous task for the players if they were to be involved in the preliminaries because the qualification fixture itself will also be very tight and they will have little time to rest,” said Mponda who captained the Flames to their first Africa Cup of Nations qualification in 26 years.

Mponda also said the development should give government food for thought on the need to provide the Flames with adequate funding.