Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has hailed the five day technical directors course which was hosted at Chiwembe Technical Centre in Blantyre saying it will help improve the standards of the game from the grass roots.
The course was organised by the world football governing body Fifa and it drew 14 participants from Southern and Eastern Africa.
There were also about 10 facilitators and observers from Fifa.
FAM president Walter Nyamilandu-Manda said: “It was a very important and we will benefit quite a lot. Technical directors need to be equipped with knowledge so that they can use it to groom raw talent.
“We have talent in abundance, but the challenge is resources. We are very thankful to Fifa for choosing Malawi to host such a high-profile course.
“It shows there is more attention on Malawi and it translates to more technical assistance and resources.”
On his part, Fifa head of education and technical development Jurg Nepfer said Malawi was chosen to host the event because it has structures in place.
“And they are also developing the game in accordance with Fifa philosophy.
“We believe that  the technical directors will now be able to develop programmes that are able to improve the technical aspect of the game,” he said.
FAM TD John Kaputa was one of the participants in the course which among other areas, will covered reporting of match analysis, coach education and reporting on training analysis, TD presentations, discussions on the role and responsibilities of TDs, project work, game and player observation, coach observation and training observation.
The other participating TDs were Neil Tovey (South Africa), Alain Happe (Mauritus), Benny Kgomela (Botswana), Lehlohonolo Thotanyana (Lesotho), Abdul Abdula (Mozambique), Salum Saidi Madadi (Tanzania), Ulric Mathiot (Seychelles), Mekonnen Bedane (Ethiopia), Asumani Lubowa (Uganda), Bhekisisa Mkhonta (Swaziland), Timotheus Tjongarero (Namibia),  Maxwell Takaendesa (Zimbabwe) and Honour Janza (Zambia).