Nyamilandu vows no witchhunt to those who voted against him

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president, who was elected as FIFA Council African Anglophone member, says his victory is for Confederation of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) and will make sure the region benefits from him.

Nyamilandu was reacting to a report by a Zambian media ZamFoot that suggested that the Malawian’s victory will haunt some COSAFA officials who opted for South Africa FA’s president Danny Jordaan prior to and at the general assembly in Egypt on Sunday.

The Zamfoot report quotes Zimbabwean football analyst Jefferson Ndhlovu as saying the election of Nyamilandu will haunt bigwigs such as COSAFA president Philip Chiyangwa and Zambia FA president Andrew Kamanga and others.

According to reports, Jordan had been the preferred COSAFA candidate but Nyamilandu did not stand down as had been hoped and that created a chance for the South African to become an alternate anti-Jordaan candidate for CAF president Ahmad.

It is reported that Ahmad was beginning to lose support in his bid for re-election and he was drumming support from other African presidents to boost his chances but Jordaan was not one of them because of not voting for Morocco’s attempt to win the right to host the 2026 World Cup.

Jordaan’s action for prefering the united bid of Canada‚ Mexico and the USA is said to have infuriated Ahmad.

He has now lost out in three bids for a place at the FIFA Council – which carries with it immense power in the game and what is bruising much to him is losing to little known Nyalimandu in as far as world football is concerned.

But Nyamilandu says: “I am glad that COSAFA has secured the seat otherwise it would have been a lost cause. This could easily have gone to CECAFA if we had filled a wrong candidate by insisting on having Danny Jordaan only. Cosafa has every reason to celebrate the victory.

“I am still an executive member of COSAFA and nothing changes but Danny is not. I will be interacting with him as a fellow CAF executive member. We shook hands yesterday and no remorse whatsoever. There can only be one winner in very election.

“It’s time for COSAFA to remain united and not to allow differences in opinion on who was the right candidate. This is history and it’s water under the bridge. We must forge ahead to consolidate the position of COSAFA in Africa and focus our energies on how we can shape and influence the future of African football,” he said.

Prior to the congress, Kenya FA president Nick Mwendwa and his Seychelles counterpart Elvis Chetty pulled out of the race and three candidates remained; Jordaan, Tanzanian Leodegar Tenga and Nyamilandu.

Zamfoot quotes Zimbabwean Jefferson Ndhlovu as saying chickens have come home to roost for Jordaan — that he is paying for going against Ahmad’s decree of voting for Morocco’s bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“This election of Walter Nyamilandu is gonna haunt Chiyangwa and Kamanga in the corridors [of COSAFA],” Ndhlovu is quoted as saying. “Looks like their preferred candidate got a beat and let’s see how it pans out. Jordaan’s fate was sealed when he went against Ahmed’s advise to vote for Morroco.”

Kamanga is a Cosafa executive committee member and alongside COSAFA boss Chiyangwa, they were openly lobbying for Jordaan.

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