Coach Mtawali rejects being pauper, sues Football Association of Malawi for defamation

Former Flames coach Ernest Mtawali has sued Football Association of Malawi (FAM) alongside its vice-president and technical sub-committee chairperson James Mwenda for defamation of character.

Court documents show Mtawali is claiming general and special damages for libel and slander.

The former coach claims that Mwenda protaryed him as a pauper and a man of no means.

Mtawali through lawyers Ritz Attorneys at Law argue that a report about his sacking was damaging , citing this in part: “Going through the privy of the report by the technical committee of FAM, it is clear why the national football team is only a shadow of itself with nothing to point as evidence of the slightest achievement…it makes unbelievable revelations of the dirt that happens behind the scenes. The dirt is so filthy that not even the garbage man would lift into his van.

“There are allegations [that] the head coach has been spotted on drinking outings and sharing cigarettes with players while on national duty as recent as the Cosafa Namibia task…The coach is also accused of relating well to other players at the exclusion of others and borrowing money from players, a behaviour that led to fallout with some two players.”

Mtawali claims that the said words in their natural and ordinary meaning meant that he is incompetent and does not have any skills as a football coach.

Mwenda and FAM are first and second defendants respectively.

During his tenure in which Malawi were booted out of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, 2018 World Cup and 2016 Cosafa Cup, the Flames played 15 games—won five, lost six and drew four.

Mtawali’s Flames beat Tanzania, Sudan, Djibouti, Angola and Mauritius. The team drew against Swaziland, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Namibia and the six losses were against Tanzania, South Sudan, Uganda, Guinea, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.

However, analyst Charles Nyirenda observed that firing Mtawali was not a solution to the dwindling standards of the sport in the country.

“In my opinion, it is how much support we gave the coach that we should be looking at here. Did he get the support he needed to bring the desired results? That is the question,” he said.