Nyamilandu won’t resign as FA Malawi boss: Not seeking another term in 2019

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu has declared that he will not bow down to pressuring calls coming from a section of the general public for his resignation on the basis of the national team’s poor performance, saying he has constitutional mandate to lead the association until December 2019.

Nyamilandu made this stand on Wednesday during a press conference he convened at FAM’s Mpira Village at Chiwembe in Limbe, saying he will see off the rest of his term as entrusted by the FAM general assembly and that he won’t seek another term of office.

“It should be emphasised that my mandate is not all about the Malawi national team performance, but a holistic 360 degrees approach in football development at all levels,” he said.

“In the past three years, we have made tremendous strides in other critical areas of football development as outlined in my manifesto and among them is the promotion of women’s football through the launch of the FAM Women’s Leagues, integrated youth competitions with the launch of the FAM Under 15 leagues and Presidential Under 17 leagues.

“We have also secured funds for the establishmenr of football academies, re-enforced beach soccer, facilitated training and development of high calibre coaches under CAF A and B licence programmes and launched the programme of training Under 15 referees.

“We have acquired more sponsors and partners like the coming in of Airtel, FISD and Chitetezo Mbaula among others and we have undergone infrastructure development following the upgrade of Chiwembe ground into a stadium.

“We ensured consistent participation of international junior competitions, initiated the establishment of football players association and championed for the professionalisation of the Super League throigh Club Licensing.

“We have strengthened the secretariat with highly qualified  and capable personnel in technical and administrative matters and fulfilled our corporate social responsibility through the FAM Charity Shield.”

Nyamilandu continued to say with regard to the 2019 candidature, he already made a stand some time back that he has no intentions of standing again and shall make it clear once more at the forthcoming general assembly in December 2018.

“However, let me stress  again that my motive is to leave a lasting legacy in Malawi football. I only have 15 months left in office and  such this is very critical for me to work on issues that will correct the future of Malawi football.

“I therefore would like to call upon all stakeholders to leave [football] politics aside, respect my mandate and that of my entire executive as we continue to build strong stuctures that will grow the game on a sustainable basis.”

On the planned demonstration by a section of the public to express their disappointment over the Flames’ 0-3 loss against Morocco in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers and calling for the resignation of the coach and himself, Nyamilandu said the concerned people should have used the right channel to communicate their grievances rather than using threats and turning football into war.

“We have discovered that the motives for  the march were not necessarily about Flames’ performance in Morocco but were being championed  for [football] political reasons which ultimately sought to seek a leadership change or a coup at FAM.

“This is illegal and unconstitutional and it would have set a very bad precedent in the governance of football. FAM has proper structures at all levels of the game and we advise  all stakeholders to use the available structures to present their grievances other than taking to the streets.

“By structures, we mean that one can use any district association, organised club, regional associations and the FAM secretariat, which has the personnel dedicated to game every day of the week but it is commendable that the planned demos have been called off and FAM’s doors are open for discussion.”

In conclusion, Nyamilandu said he is committed to leave  that lasting legacy together with his executive committee and that FAM is one of the institutions that has done well in respecting its statutes.

“We have crucial assignments in the AFCON qualifiers starting with Cameroon in three weeks’ time, let’s join hands in preparing for the matches that lie ahead to boost our chances of qualification,” he said.