Mighty Wanderers not happy with fixtures

Blantyre-based Mighty Mukuru Wanderers have lodged a complaint with Super League of Malawi (Sulom) over the distribution of their TNM Super League fixtures.

In a letter dated March 31 2024 addressed to Sulom secretariat and signed by Wanderers board secretary Chancy Gondwe, the Nomads say they are not amused with their first-round home and away fixtures.

The Nomads, who start the campaign against Kamuzu Barracks at Kamuzu Stadium on Sunday, argue that although their next matches against Fomo, Bangwe All Stars and FCB Nyasa Bullets and Creck Sporting are away, they will still be playing within their base in the Southern Region except against Lilongwe-based Creck Sporting.

The letter reads in part: “We have made an analysis of the fixtures, having considered the distribution of home and away games, timing of matches, clustering of games, competing events and revenue generation opportunities, among others.

“Our club shall be stuck in the Southern Region during the initial five matches and travel outside the region for the sixth match against Karonga United. The first five matches in the South are against Kamuzu Barracks, Fomo, Creck Sporting, Bangwe and Bullets in that order.

“Although the matches against fellow Southern Region clubs, Fomo, Bangwe and Bullets are said to be away, in reality we have been confined to our home base. We get to travel a lot after the sixth game, from the seventh game against Mafco, Ekwendeni, Silver, Baka and Chitipa. From the above analysis, it means most of our away games are concentrated in the second-half of the first round.”

Wanderers argue that this will leave their players worn out after travelling  more than their opponents and will affect their budget.

“Similarly, the overload of away matches is financially and physically prejudicial to our club and we implore Sulom to punctuate these games with a home game or two,” reads the letter in part.

The Nomads have since suggested that Sulom should spread their home and away matches evenly.

Wanderers also suggested that their match against Kamuzu Barracks be played on Saturday to allow for more time for recovery before their next fixture.

 Submitted the Nomads: “Although there shall be no other games in Blantyre City on the opening day, our game against KB has inexplicably been scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 7. This entails additional expenses and reduction of recovery time for the players in readiness of the next match.

“There won’t be other matches in Blantyre on Saturday and we should be at liberty to kick off our campaign on Saturday April 6, alongside other clubs that finished within the top-three bracket [Silver and Bullets] last term.”

Sulom general secretary Williams Banda in an interview yesterday acknowledged receipt of the request from Wanderers.

He said: “Yes, we got their letter on their concerns about their fixtures and we are looking into that.”