MDFC cautions athletes to perform
The Malawi Defence Force has disclosed that it will come up with a new regulation for athletes joining the military teams to sign a five-year bond to maintain high level performance after being employed as servicemen and women.
This is after noting that once civilian athletes joins MDF they relax and do tend not to maintain high performance as evidenced by the football teams’ performance in the 2021 season.
MDF Director of Sports and Culture Colonel Henderson Chilenga said the arrangement empower them to take action against football players, boxers or any athlete who fails to perform well.
“What we want to do now is to introduce laws that will require civilian athletes to sign a performance related contract so that we should be able to track them. If they do not perform to our expectations we would be force to terminate our contract,” he said.
Col Chilenga said it was surprising to see that the athletes, who are well taken care of, struggle to maintain high level performance once they are employed, raising eyebrows that they tend to use sports a springboard to get employed.
“These athletes take time prepare for a competition for example they can receive K30,000 yet we give them all the support on top of their salaries,” he said.
He cited the performance of MDF football team, Kamuzu Barracks, Mafco, Moyale and Red Lions who have finished outside the paid-up ranks of the top four in the 16-team TNM Super League this season.
Moyale Barracks finished on sixth with 46 points. Mafco eighth with 42 points, Kamuzu Barracks’s 41 points saw them lie 10th and Red Lions finished 11th with 35 points.
Red Lions, who are the oldest top-flight league team from MDF were relegated in the 2019 season and returned a year later. Mafco have also been relegated before.
A number of MDF boxers have also been performing badly, the latest being Odgood Kayuni who has just been beaten by Limbani Chikapa on Boxing Day at M1 Entertainment Centre.
