Sulom sticks to 1 match per week

Super League of Malawi (Sulom) says its decision to have teams play one fixture per week effective the forthcoming season is in line with Fifa standards and practice.

Partial fixtures for the 2022 TNM Super League season which Sulom released on Monday show that teams will play one game per week and Sulom general secretary Williams Banda said this was in response to an outcry on discrepancies on the number of games played by teams.

He said: “There have been concerns from clubs on the discrepancies of number of games played per teams, with some playing more than others. The main fear has been that it encourages match-fixing.”

Banda said one game per week is also standard practice recommended by Fifa to ensure players’ health is not compromised.

“It is also a Fifa recommendation that a team should only play one game in 48 hours so that players have enough time to recover after travelling to play away matches,” he said.

However, Banda said due to financial constraints, some clubs insist on playing two away matches to cut costs.

He said: “For example, it is difficult for clubs without sound sponsorship to travel nine times to play just one fixture per trip. Most of the teams would rather play two fixtures to cut costs. But then this leads to the difference in the number of games played by each team.”

Banda said this will now be a thing of the past since by playing one fixture, all 16 TNM Super League teams will be at par.

But some clubs have accused Sulom of not notifying them about the change in good time.

Karonga United general secretary Ramsy Simwaka said Sulom should have announced the changes soon after the end of the 2021 season.

He said: “They are making the announcement now when we have already drawn our budgets. Now we have to go back to our sponsors to tell them that we need to adjust upwards our budgets. I don’t know if with this arrangement we will be able to fulfil all our away fixtures.”

Newly-promoted Sable Farming FC chief administration officer Willard Banda also accused Sulom of delaying the announcement.

He said: “They should have told us in good time so that we could plan. As it is, they should not be surprised if we fail to play someof the away fixtures.”

But Banda said Sulom is ready to hear the concerns raised by the clubs.

He said: “The clubs wanted us to release the fixtures for planning purposes. This is what we have done. Suffice to say, this is not a final fixture. The final fixture will be done after consultations. We are ready to hear from the clubs on their concerns and see how we can assist them.”

Both Karonga United and Sable Farming said they will officially write Sulom on theirconcerns.

But defending champions Nyasa Big Bullets welcomed the change, saying Sulom needs to abide by international standards set by Fifa.

Bullets chief administration offer Albert Chigoga said: “Much as this will have a huge bearing on budgets, that’s the practice all over the world.”