No exemption from fixtures
Sulom League of Malawi (Sulom) says it will not reschedule matches to exempt clubs that have contributed players to the Malawi National Football Team which is expected to participate at Cosafa Cup in Durban, South Africa from July 5 to 16.
According to FAM regulations, clubs that contribute four players to the national team are exempted from local fixtures.
An unofficial Flames squad which we have seen shows that Mighty Mukuru Wanderers has contributed Christopher Kumwembe, Stanley Sanudi, Mphatso Kamanga, Gaddie Chirwa and Lawrence Chaziya.
Bullets have contributed Clever Mkungula, Blessings Mpokera, Patrick Mwaungulu, Lanjesi Nkhoma, Alick Lungu, Frank Willard and Ernest Petro in the squad.
Silver Strikers have contributed Nickson Mwase, Chimwemwe Idana, Chikondi Kamanga and Patrick Macheso.
However, Sulom general secretary Williams Banda in an interview said the four teams will not be exempted from matches due to congestion of the 2023 football calendar.
He said: “This was agreed prior to the league kick-off to respect only Fifa-sanctioned windows.
“You may recall that kick-off was shifted from April 8 to 15. In short, no changes to fixtures shall be done. The calendar is very congested.”
However, the development has led to disagreement between Sulom and with FAM, who wrote them to exempt the clubs from fixtures.
FAM general secretary Alfred Gunda in an interview confirmed having asked Sulom to reconsider its stance on the matter.
He said: “We are still engaging Sulom and the affected clubs to find a solution to the situation.
“Of course it was agreed that only national team matches on Fifa, sanctioned dates would affect the fixtures.
“But not everything is cast in stone. We need to look at the situation we have.
“The coach wants to use local players at the Cosafa Cup, so we need to compromise so that their clubs are not affected.”
The stand-off between Sulom and FAM over the fixtures has led to the delay in the release of the Flames final squad.
Interim coach Patrick Mabedi is expected to name his Cosafa Cup squad today once FAM and Sulom sort out the fixtures issue.
Gunda said: “We should be able to reach a compromise before the team leaves for South Africa on Tuesday.”
The Flames will start their 2023 Cosafa Cup campaign against defending champions Zambia’s Chipolopolo in Group B on July 6 at King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban, South Africa.
Malawi’s second match will be against Seychelles on July 9 at the same venue before wraping up the group stage against islanders Comoros on July 11 at Chatsworth Stadium.
The 2023 edition will be held under a new format in which all teams will start from group stages. There will be no Plate Section.
Under the new format, 12 teams taking part have been split into three groups of four sides, with the three pool winners and the best runner-up advancing to the semi-finals.
The pool games will be played from July 5 to 12 with the semi-finals scheduled for July 14 while the final and third-place play-off will be staged two days later.
Last year, the Flames under former coach Mario Marinica only managed a 1-0 win against a Mauritius second-string side but drew one-all against e-Swatini and lost 2-1 to Lesotho, to bow out in the group stage.
