New Malawi FA president holds meeting with FIFA president

Newly elected Football Association of Malawi Fleetwood Haiya met his world football body counterpart Gianni Infantino on Wednesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where they discussed on infrastructure and grassroots football development.

Haiya, who was elected on 16 December, also invited the FIFA President to visit Malawi in the near future to see for himself what needed to be done.

The meeting took place on the eve of the FIFA Football Summit.

Said Infantino: “It was a great pleasure to meet the new Football Association of Malawi President Fleetwood Haiya and listen to his very detailed and far-reaching plans for developing football his country. We talked about the importance of good infrastructure for football development and the role that football can play in education.

Malawi is a country with a huge football potential and, with the support of the FIFA Forward development programme and the increased opportunities for member associations to participate in global competitions, I believe that together we can put Malawian football in the spotlight.”

The FIFA President previously met Mr Haiya’s predecessor, Walter Nyamilandu, at the FIFA Paris bureau in October 2023.

FIFA has also commended FAM for benefitting from the FIFA Forward funds by renovating the technical centre in Blantyre, giving national teams improved facilities.

The world governing body also attributed the victory of the women’s national team in the COSAFA Women’s Championship in South Africa in October, Malawi’s first such title – to the the FIFA programme.

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