No grudges, says Walter
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu has said he harbours no grudge against Super League of Malawi (Sulom) and the National Football Referees Committee (NFRC)—the two affiliates which did not nominate and vote for him.
“Not at all. The past is behind us, we forget our differences and forge ahead.
“Let’s leave personal differences aside and serve the interests of football, let the game thrive. We can differ politically, but remain friends,” said Nyamilandu.
He said it is not the first time that some affiliates have snubbed him.
“It is part of the game and that is the whole essence of democracy. I have always reached out.
“They must not worry, but be assured of my support. We are looking forward to a cordial working relationship. We need to collaborate on so many things starting with club licensing and gate management as well as professionalisation and commercialisation,” he said.
Nyamilandu said they already have Sulom president Innocent Bottoman in the executive committee having changed the statutes.
“It’s a good starting point for breaking the ice and mending fences.”
On his part, the Bottoman said he has always enjoyed a sound working relationship with the FAM president.
“The fact that we rallied our support behind Wilkins Mijiga does not mean that we do not like Walter.
“In fact, as I stated earlier on, it was more about creating a healthy competition. I believe in doing things in a transparent manner and I am happy that he [Nyamilandu] understood our position. We are equally more than willing to work with him and other candidates that we did not nominate or vote for,” said Bottoman.
Ironically, all the candidates that Sulom and NFRC nominated did not make it into the executive.
In the same vein, Bottoman has since appealed to his vice- president Daud Suleman not to harbour a grudge against Sulom for being excluded from the list of delegates to the FAM AGM.
“In the spirit of unity as suggested by the [FAM] president, Suleman should forget the past and move on. It was my prerogative to choose the delegates and I told him that the presidency would be represented by me so too the general secretariat which was represented by the GS [Williams Banda].
Bottoman was reacting to Suleman’s move to implicate Sulom in the court injunction which was obtained by some candidates in the run-up to the polls.
Suleman, vice-general secretary Captain Thoko Chazema and an executive member Alfred Lungu, who are perceived to be Nyamilandu’s loyalists, were not among the Sulom delegates. Similarly, other affiliates that supported Nyamilandu, are reported to have left out members who were deemed to be ‘pro-opposition.’
Soccer pundit Charles Nyirenda bemoaned lack of clear laws regarding the delegates who are supposed to be assigned to the elections.
He said it was surprising that some affiliates assigned mere committee members leaving behind top officials.
“What it means is that once the chairperson of a particular affiliate is pro-Walter, he will influence the selection of those going to the AGM and vice-versa,” said Nyirenda.
He said there must be specific laws which should specify that priority for the AGM attendance should be given to the top officials of the affiliate institutions.
He also clarified that he withdrew his aspirations for FAM second-vice presidency before the nominations started.
“It is, therefore, not correct to suggest that I failed to get a nomination,” he said. n
