Next FAM president
I am worried that, with less than six months to Football Association of Malawi (FAM) elections, domestic football has not started meaningful debate on the next FAM president.
Such kind of wait-and-see approach works to the advantage of the candidates, but Malawi football may end up having a wrong occupant of the Chiwembe Technical Centre high office come December 18.
FAM affiliates hold the winning cards to the elections, but that should not stop well-meaning football lovers from putting potential candidates under the microscope. The only way to get it right in Malawi football administration is through asking aspirants difficult questions.
Malawi football has tried all sorts of leaders with little success, the game now needs a strategic thinker with a proven track record.
The game needs a leader who would not be afraid to resign as a matter of principle when some people are, against his vision, advancing a bad football agenda such as paying executive members allowances just to watch a game for free at Kamuzu Stadium.
As Nelson Mandela showed, quitting is also a sign of greatness. Our football has many administrators who have overstayed their welcome.
Domestic football needs a mature head, probably plucked from a retirement farm where they comfortably live, to rescue the game from thefire-fighting before more lives are lost (through violence) and clubs become extinct.
We need a seasoned administrator who will not be afraid to stick his neck on the chopping board by making unpopular and risky decisions such as arresting gate-ticketing fraud.
We need an old head that will be elected by the affiliates but his/her allegiance will be to the game and the players.
We need a leader who shall not know the spelling of appeasement; one who shall not bend the rules to appease someone for fear of being voted out of office, knowing that, after all, he is just a servant whose life does not depend on the game and its mafia.
The foundation has been laid by youthful leadership that has driven the game by try and error in the past 20 years. Now is the time for the cool heads that would think long-term and not be obsessed with leaving cheap legacies and winning popularity contests.
Does that game have potential leaders with five years of continuous experience? That is debate for another day, but the youthful leaders have let the game down big time using football to settle personal scores and gain publicity.
