FA Malawi gets new deadline to fire RVG:  Petition for Walter to resign

Football Association of Malawi (FAM)  has been given seven days to fire national team coach Ronny van Geneugden (RVG) and president Walter Macmillan Nyamilandu Manda to step down.

Sports activists, Henry Gome and Kalowe Ajasi, who claim they have written on behalf of concerned football fans, say Nyamilandu and RVG have let the nation down and it is time for them to pack up and go.

In a 10 paged petition dated 14th January, 2019, seen by Nyasa Times addressed to FAM President, FAM General Secretary, Super League of Malawi (SULOM) President, Minister of Sports, Malawi National Council of Sports, the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Inspector General of Police, Gome and Ajasi are bitter and very much concerned with gross incompetence on the part RVG and Nyamilandu, coupled with a string of poor results for the Malawi national team.

They have also expressecd concerns with what they allege are increased cases of theft and fraud in football circles that goes unattended, together with dwindling standards of football in the country.

Gome and Ajasi lament that RVG  was hired under questionable circumstances by accident as he has no any reputable record worth coaching a national team.

RVG has come under fire from some soccer followers following disappointing results within the one year that he has been in charge of the Flames

Under his tutelage, the national team has won twice, drawn ten and lost eight.

The Belgian said building a national team is a process, which cannot be done overnight.

However, the letter reads:“This is the worst coach that Malawi has ever had throughout its entire football history. This is contrary to everybody’s expectations because this coach received enormous support from both FAM, Government and the corporate world more than any other coach that Malawi has ever had.”

Gome and Ajasi say it is disheartening to see the Flames failing to perform despite receiving this full support. The team, they say, has now reached very critical levels to the point that it cannot win a match against any national team in the world, let alone a club or even a practice match against itself.

“That is how nastiest our beloved national team has become under RVG,” lament Gome.

The two activists further observe that each time RVG joins the junior team’s technical panel; the team fails to perform which they say is a clear indication that he transmits his losing philosophy to the junior teams.

“The reaction of the fans at Kamuzu Stadium who booed at RVG and Nyamilandu and sang Achoke Achoke is a clear indication that Malawians are fed up and no longer want the duo anywhere close to our football,” explains the letter.

“We therefore give FAM President Walter Nyamilandu and his committee a seven (7) day ultimatum to either fire or redeploy RVG before tendering his resignation as FAM President,” states the letter in part.

The two activists have further said if Nyamilandu does not step down, the affiliates should convene an emergency meeting to remove him and Chief Executive Officer Gift Gunda should run the affairs of FAM for three months pending fresh elections.