Taxi driver returns ‘lost’Flames passports
Flames players’ passports, which went missing after an official forgot them in a taxi in Bamako, Mali on Monday, were returned to the team yesterday, it has emerged.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka said the travel documents were returned by the taxi driver at the team’s training venue.
He said: “After establishing that the official had forgotten the passports, the taxi driver thought of returning them today [yesterday] because he felt it was late to return them on Monday.”A source said apart from passports, the taxi driver also returned an Ipad and $3 000 (about K5.3 million).
Apparently, the official reportedly opted to hire a taxi to buy ice blocks for the team than using a team bus due to traffic congestion
However, a football follower Ben Chiwaya said the official could have used a vehicle that is allocated to the head of delegation.
“Thank God, the driver was a good person, otherwise it would have been a different story. It should give the authorities food for thought,” he said.
The Flames were in Bamako for last night’s TotalEnergies 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Burkina Faso.
Zakazaka said even without the passports, the Flames would have still been allowed to fulfil the fixture as per the competition’s rules.
Article 39.2 on qualification of players reads: “If a travelling team loses passports of one or many of its players, the team is authorised to field the concerned player or players provided that each one of them takes photographs with the match commissioner or the referee before the match.
“These photographs shall be given to the referee who shall send them to CAF [Confederation of African Football] secretariat together with a report.”
Zakazaka said goalkeeper Innocent Nyasulu and striker Chawanangwa Kaonga were the only players who still had their passports, having arrived late.
