Malawi keep fingers crossed for Cecafa
Malawi will have to wait till early next week to know if the Flames will be included as guests or not at this year’s Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations(Cecafa) senior challenge cup that take place on November 2 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Malawi is on the waiting list of teams to be considered to participate as guests alongside South Africa, Zambia and Ivory Coast.
Cecafa is set to pick two teams from the four to be part of this showpiece.
Officials of Cecafa had a meeting on Wednesday to identify which sides are to participate but have kept their cards close to their chests on which teams they settled for.
Fam’s Chief Executive Officer Suzgo Nyirenda told Nyasa Times that he got information from Cecafa’s Nicolas Musonye that Malawi will have to wait till next week to know its fate.
“We expected communication from Cecafa after their meeting on Wednesday but we are told we will have to wait until Monday when they will be meeting their sponsors,” Nyirenda said.
He was optimistic however that the Flames will crack the nod saying it will be good for the team to participate to keep in shape ahead of the World Cup qualifiers next year.
“We are just keeping our fingers crossed and praying that we take part,” he said.
After the Flames failure to qualify for the 2012 Afcon finals,coach Kinnah Phiri asked Fam to ask Cecafa if the team could be considered for the showpiece.
Before crossing over to Cosafa (Council of Southern Africa Football Associations), Malawi won the tournament three times (1978, 1979 and 1988).
Uganda are still the record champions with 11 titles followed by Kenya (five) and Ethiopia (four). Rwanda’s only triumph dates back to 1999
Meanwhile,Kinnah is next week expected to embark on a nationwide tour to scout fresh talent for the team.
Kinnah says this is part of his team’s transion programme and will target the regional leagues and some districts that have strong trophies running.
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