The Ministry of Youth and Sports says it did not reach any agreement with Football Association of Malawi (FAM) regarding the perks of immediate-past Flames coach Patrick Mabedi.
The ministry’s spokesperson Macmillan Mwale said this when he was asked if FAM’s request to provide part of the coach’s perks was concluded.
He said: “An arrangement was made to discuss the issue, but later on, we heard that FAM had concluded a two-year deal. So, the terminated contract was not from government
“You may recall that initially, we had suggested that to avoid contractual conflicts like was the case with former coach Meck Mwase, we suggested that in future, the coach should be signing a contract with FAM and that we would be providing the funds through their annual allocations.
“Then before we could agree the modalities, we learnt that FAM had concluded the deal with the coach.
“So, we are not in any way involved in the perks for Mr. Mabedi just like was the case with [Mario] Marinica.”
He also said the ministry has not been officiallyinformed about the contract termination.
Mabedi was reportedly getting about K13 million as monthly salary.
FAM general secretary Alfred Gunda confirmed that the ministry is not a party to the deal.
The association announced through a press statement on Monday evening that it had terminated Mabedi’s contract “with immediate effect”.
The statement said the decision was in line with resolutions of the FAM Emergency Committee meeting held on October 28.
Reads the statement: “The decision is based on the recommendations from the Technical Committee following the dismal performance of the Flames and subsequent failure to qualify for the Total Energies Afcon [Africa Cup of Nations] 2025.
“Football Association of Malawi would like to assure all stakeholders that it will ensure seamless continuity in the Flames’ undertakings in the various competitions.
“FAM will be putting together a temporary technical panel that will lead the team into the next assignments until a substantive replacement is identified.
The statement further said FAM is grateful for the contribution made by Mabedi during the time he served as Flames’ coach “and wishes the tactician all the best in his future endeavors”.
