Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has appointed Marian Mario Marinica as the new Technical Director, replacing John Kaputa who retired in June this year.
The 56-year old Romanian was unveiled at Mpira Village on Wednesday afternoon by FAM President Walter Nyamilandu and Chairperson of the Technical Subcommittee Tiya Somba.
The highly qualified Romanian, who holds a PRO FIFA Coaching License once worked in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Seychelles, Tunisia and Tanzania.
Nyamilandu said Marinica has a huge challenge to develop Malawian football in the three years that he will be in the country.
“He is here to develop Malawi football and to correct some shortfalls that are there. As an association, we want to play football the right way. We need to produce quality coaches who will take Malawian football to another level. There has always been a gap especially when playing international games so Mario is here to bridge the gap,” he said.
The President further said FAM expects excellence and professionalism from the new Technical Director.
“We don’t want shortcuts and we want to be better organized as he champions the agenda of football development.
“I want to live behind a football philosophy that will suit our nation. We need to embrace change. With him, I except technical issues to be the number one priority by paying more attention to grassroots football and youth football before bringing everything together for the betterment of our game.”
“Mario comes into this position with lots of experience and is not new in this environment. He has worked in Africa and his profile on the continent is well documented,” said Nyamilandu.
On his part, Marinica said it’s a huge challenge working for a nation with lots of potential and is very optimistic that within three years, he will achieve what he has been employed for.
“Huge challenge to have a small nation with huge talent. My first task is to build structures, scouting network and to receive help and support from all relevant stakeholders to develop the game starting with grassroot football because that’s the basis of football.”
“It won’t be easy because every job has a challenge and I am ready for it. I have once worked with few Malawian players notably Robert Ng’ambi at Black Leopards and from the onset, you could tell that we have talent in Malawi. I want to help in nurturing the talent not only for the national team but as Ambassadors ready for international market,” he said.
