FAM says the Districts Leagues will turn into a national championship in two years time.
FAM President Walter Nyamilandu Manda disclosed this when he presided over the launch of the Districts Leagues for the Southern Region at Nsanje Youth Centre on Saturday.
Nyamilandu said going forward the leagues will be producing districts selects sides to compete in the national championship.
” We are committed for this project and it is here to stay. Our ambition is that this competition must graduate into a national district championship.
“We will go on the market to identify a sponsor. Having laid the foundation of the districts we must make it bigger with a national platform.
“We want to bridge the gap where some districts don’t have representation in Regional Leagues or Super League because there were no competitive structures in the districts,” said Nyamilandu.
He added that FAM will organise training for coaches, referees and administrators involved in the Leagues.
” We now have to build capacity of all the officials involved to ensure that the Leagues are managed professionally at all levels,” he said.
Southern Region Football Association chairperson Raphael Humba thanked FAM for introducing the Leagues as the districts were starved of competitive football.
” It is a very big boost for football development considering that we have restricted it to the Under 23’s which will ensure that we concentrate our efforts on the right group that is capable of developing,” said Humba.
Two weeks ago FAM held similar launch events in Salima and Nkhata-Bay for Central and Northern Regions respectively.
FAM is pumping in K60 million for the project with each district receiving K2 million.
During the launch ceremonial match on Saturday Marka Express beat Phokera Youngsters 1-0.
