Football Association of Malawi says the District Leagues are restricted to Under 23 players because they are developmental and must be participated by players who have the potential to grow.

FAM President Walter Nyamilandu Manda made the remarks on Saturday afternoon when he presided over the launch of the Leagues for the Central Region at Salima Community Centre ground.

According to the competition’s rules and regulations on player eligibility, players must be 23 years old or below to participate in the leagues.

“We want to concentrate our efforts on players who have the potential to grow and take our football forward. We already have a foundation with the FAM Under 14, Under 16 Under 17 and the First Capital Bank Under 20 Leagues.

“We needed to bridge the gap with the Super League so that the pathway for player development and transition must be smooth.

“Players must come from this Leagues to go and play for the Super League and national teams and that can only happen if we are dealing with the right age group.

“We don’t want players that played at Super League level before and retired to be playing in these leagues because they don’t have a future in the game,” he said.

He added that FAM will appoint scouts in each district to be monitoring talent in the rural areas.

Central Region Football Association general secretary Bernard Harawa said they will put in place measurers to ensure that there is no age cheating.

“We warn all teams to register players of the right age .We will ensure that data is gathered systematically using the Mpira Connect so that we have the right people playing our leagues,” said Harawa.

The launch was spiced up with a ceremonial match as Sangu FC beat Chitala FC 1-0. FAM launched the leagues in the Northern Region in Nkhatabay last week and will launch in the Southern Region Nsanje.