Season kicks off April 1
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has announced that the 2023 season will kick off on April 1 with the NBS Bank plc sponsored Charity Shield.
The association’s commercial and marketing director Limbani Matola said setting the tone will be domestic football powerhouses Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers. who will clash at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe to evoke memories of their last encounter in the Airtel Top 8 final at the same venue on December 17 last year.
He said The People’s Team have been chosen by virtue of being the TNM Super League champions while the Lali Lubani Road outfit lifted the Airtel Top 8 Cup.
Said Matola: “The good news is that NBS Bank plc have committed to bankroll the event again this year.
“We are still working on the logistics such as identifying beneficiaries of the event and appearance fees for the team and once we are through, we will issue a statement.”
FAM competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka said as per tradition, the TNM Super League is scheduled to kick off a week later on April 8.
“The arrangement has always been that the Charity Shield starts the season and then the Super League kicks off a week later and nothing has changed unless there are other developments,” he said.
Bullets chief administration officer Albert Chigoga and assistant coach Peter ‘Mjojo’ Mponda said they will be ready by the time they face their fierce rivals.
Said Chigoga: “There is ample time. We are going into the second week of our preparations, so no need to panic.”
On his part, Mponda said: “We are still in the early days of our pre-season. We are taking it nice and slow.
“We still have time to measure ourselves.”
Nomads gaffer Mark Harrison said he has been enlightened about the match though he has some reservations.
He said: “The big problem is that the national team is taking away about six or seven players and more or less the same number from Bullets until the end of March and then we are supposed to play on the 1st of April, I am not sure if it is a good idea.
“No chance of integrating the players as they would have been out for six weeks or so, It could have been looked at in a different light, they could have delayed the game. Otherwise, it is diluting the game.
“Coming back from international duty, the players will be tired and then the league kicks off a week later, I do not think has been thought through very well. There should have been more discussions.
“But there is nothing I can do about it. I am just a coach.
“Anyway it is what it is and we have to get on with it. It’s the opener to the season and it is a big game and we want to win it, we want to do well.”
Last year, Bullets beat Silver Strikers 1-0 to win the shield for a record fifth time. The match realised K10.3 million which went towards buying relief items for flood victims in the Lower Shire.
