Refs to sign code of conduct
Football referees will from next season sign a code of conduct they will have to adhere to or face disciplinary action.
This is the first time for Football Association of Malawi (FAM) to come up with such a blueprint for the referees.
FAM competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka in an interview said they came up with the code of conduct to improve officiation.
He said: “In the past, we never had such a code of conduct. The referees were just following the laws of the game.

will face the chop. | Nation
“But now they have to follow the laws of the game and also abide by the code of conduct themselves.”
The development comes amid several complaints on the performance of referees in the 2024 season.
FAM referees manager Duncan Lengani said the referees will have to abide by the code of conduct to improve officiation.
He said: “We have drafted a code of conduct, which each and every referee is going to sign before the kick-off, so that whatever is in the code of conduct must be abided by.
“If they fail, they will face the chop. We are also planning to have a media review to assess their performance so that we can have credible officiating this year.”
Meanwhile, FAM referees standing committee has approved names of 132 referees to officiate in the 2025 elite competitions.
The list consists of 16 Fifa referees and 116 local elite referees.
Said Lengani: “Of course, we used so many criteria in order to come up with this list. Some of them are professionalism, integrity, and also the technical knowhow of the rules of the game, in addition to the experience one has. One of the paramount links is for them to showcase their talen, professionalism, integrity, and fairness.”
The 2024 list features 115 male and 17 female referees, marking an increase from the 120 referees appointed in 2024 and 103 in 2023.