Super League of Malawi (Sulom) has done away with the element of voting in the 2024 Super League Awards.
The awards for last season’s outstanding performers are scheduled for Friday evening at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe and the top-flight league runners have since started unveiling the nominees.
Until last year, the public was involved in the process through voting, but some quarters argued that it could lead to unfair selection since some teams have more supporters than others.
Football analyst Charles Nyirenda hailed the move, saying: “That is the way to go. It is an archaic system.
“Any objective system of identifying achievers cannot be left to the fans. For purposes of credibility, fans should be left to vote for honours within individual clubs where you expect them to be fairer because they are given a choice to pick within the family.
“But when it’s about national awards, fans are most likely to be partisan in their choices and that can easily reduce the integrity of the exercise. To expect a football fan to be neutral is pure fantasy.”
The flagship league governing body’s vice-president Ronald Chiwaula said the nominees were identified after a “thorough process, including consultations”.
He said: “Those that were entrusted with the process did their best.
“There was a special panel comprising analysts and tacticians that scrutinised data and statistics to come up with the nominees.
“Of course, there will always be different opinions and already there are concerns from some quarters on how the nominees were chosen, but there is always room for improvement.”
Mighty Wanderers forward Isaac ‘Chair’ Kaliyati, who was last season’s top scorer with 17 goals, automatically wins the Golden Boot Award.
He has also been nominated for Player of the Season Award alongside Silver Strikers duo of goalkeeper George Chikooka and defender McDonald Lameck.
The Nomads attacker is also in contention for the best midfielder accolade alongside his teammate Wisdom Mpinganjira and Silver’s Uchizi Vunga.
Lameck, Hadji Wali of Creck Sporting Club and Masiya Manda, formerly of Civil Service United but now with Wanderers, will battle for the Best Defender Award.
Mighty Tigers’ Lucky Tizola, Emmanuel Allan, formerly of Moyale Barracks, but now with Silver, and and FCB Nyasa Bullets’ Chrispin Mapemba are in contention for the Rookie of the Year.
The Player-of-the-Season will cart home K3 million, the top scorer will get K2 million while the rest will pocket K1 million each.
Last season, former Bullets’ star Patrick Mwaungulu, who is now based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was named the Player-of-the-Season and best midfielder, Innocent Nyasulu won the Best Goalkeeper Award, Stanley Sanudi was the best defender while Clement Nyondo won the Golden Boot Award.
