The Football Association of Malawi will from tomorrow hold a two-day strategy leadership and capacity building exercise for Member Associations aimed at equipping football administrators with the right leadership tool kit for them to transition from general administration to leading and managing football affairs.
The exercise, titled Effective Leadership; The Game Changer will precede and piggyback the 2022 FAM ordinarily Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Mangochi.
The exercise completes the circle of the three key bodies of the Association after FAM held similar exercises for secretariat staff and Executive Committee members under the UEFA Assist programme last month . This is the Association’s deliberate approach to solicit strategic feedback and building the capacity of its key internal stakeholders in its effort to modernize and develop the game in Malawi.
FAM President Walter Nyamilandu Manda said the exercise will help to curtail the administrative gaps that hinders the growth of the game in the country.
“There are a number of gaps in our setup like absence of a shared vision as the Raising the Bar is not disseminated with clear action points for each member association resulting in the majority of the initiatives being championed by the President, Exco or Secretariat.
“There is need for All MA’s to embrace a business mentality with a corporate executive approach in running of their respective affairs in their jurisdiction through a tailor-made football administration training.
“We also noted of unhealth working relationship between FAM Secretariat and some key Member Associations due to misalignment on expectations and Football administration knowledge gaps amongst some key members within the Member Associations who are the infantry leaders of the game in Malawi,” he said,
He said given the dynamisms in the environment, the game changer to winning on and off the field of play is effective leadership that is grounded on sound management and good corporate governance principles.
“The challenges that we are faced with, demand that we should run our football institutions professionally with a business mentality that is driven by a clear vision and a well-articulated business strategy.
“Our ability to lead from the front with a hands-on approach to football management is a critical success factor to delivering excellent performance that will satisfy the needs of our stakeholders,” said Nyamilandu Manda
Northern Region Football Association Chairperson Dr. Lameck Khonje said the exercise, which is the first of its kind, will provide an opportunity for Member Associations to contribute to the strategic direction of the Association.
“Normally we only have the AGM which has a statutory guided agenda to discus football development matters, and it is not enough to deliberate strategic matters in that setup.
“There is a huge capacity gap within our Associations on strategic leadership and good governance resulting in several administrative errors that have eventually led to putting the game into disrepute quite often than anticipated. So, we welcome this exercise and looking forward to being well guided on how we can improve our governance and strategic management,” said Khonje.
The exercise will be facilitated by experienced sports administrator and former Malawi National Council of Sports Executive Secretary George Jana and Service Touch.
