FIFA has approved all the 15 Malawian referees whose names were submitted for the 2023 International Referees Panel.
There is no new face among the six centre referees as FIFA has retained the same group from 2022 while Pondamali Tembo is the only new name on the list of nine Assistant referees after replacing Innocent Kaundula.
For first time Malawi will have two referees on the FIFA Beach Soccer Referees List following the acceptance of Mathews Ngwira and Rose Zimba.
FAM Referees Development Officer Fredrick Kholopa said:
“We are pleased that FIFA has finally approved all the 15 names that we submitted for the 2023 International Referees panel which includes five women and 10 men.
“We are also happy that finally FIFA has also given us two slots for Beach Soccer referees which will be vital for the growth of the sport in the country,” he said.
Kholopa has since urged elite referees in the country to keep on working hard and compete for places on the FIFA list.
Below is the full list:
Center Referees
1. Godfrey Nkhakananga
2. Gift Chicco
3. Mercy Kayira
4. Easter Zimba
5. Eness Gumbo
6. Newton Nyirenda
Assistant referees
7. Bernadettar Kwimbira
8. Clemence Kanduku
9. Eliza Sichinga
10. Pondamali Tembo
11. Happiness Mbandambanda
12. Edward Kambatuwa
13. Joseph Nyauti
14. Jonizio Luwizi
15. Evance Msonda
Beach Soccer Referee
Mathews Ngwira
Rose Zimba
