Flames coach Patrick Mabedi has said there is more to the Malawi National Football Team’s struggles such that firing him is not the solution.
He was responding to a question from the media ahead of yesterday’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Senegal on whether he is ready to quit following a string of poor results.
With his voice straining with emotion, the Flames gaffer said: “Look, as a coach, I am not a coward, we know what went wrong. I think you needed to do your research. Before we started [this] journey, we had outstanding tournaments in Cosafa, we even matched Tunisia [in 2026 World Cup qualifiers].
“There is no one who can leave his house to lose . Is our league in Malawi good? [On why the team is struggling]… Do we have players? Do we have enough time to work with them? We have equipment which we use to track players’ fitness called GPS which clearly show that the local players are not fit.
“We don’t have enough time for training. For example, Senegal [locally-based players’ squad] is in camp in preparation for Chan [Africa Nations Championship]…Thats how serious other countries are, but here things are not working.
“I am a professional, I can leave today, but some media people are taking it personal by attacking me. The other thing, do we have quality? How many players do we have in Europe?”
The former Flames skipper also said he is not losing sleep with the criticism directed at him.
He said: “As a coach, I take responsibility, but I am not worried with whatever is being said. I hear all that is being said, especially by the media.
“People talk because the results are not good and they are angry. They are entitled to that, but we need to sort out the problems that are [there] because I can leave today and a new manager can come in, but the problems will still be there.”
FAM general secretary Alfred Gunda had not responded to our questikonnaire at the time of going to press yesterday.
Mabedi has time and again complained about the short time the team has for preparations.
But recently, FAM executive committee resolved that the team should be camping seven days before a match as per Fifa regulations.
