The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) Technical Director Benjamin Kumwenda and FAM Regional Technical Officer Robert Mzinza on Wednesday  graduated with a FIFA Diploma in Safeguarding in Sports .

Kumwenda attended the graduation in a ceremony that took place at FIFA Headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland while Mzinza  graduated in absentia due to Visa processing delays.

Kumwenda and Mzinza were among the 111 participants from the FIFA Member Associations that have been undergoing the course since 2020.

Launched by FIFA in collaboration with the Open University of United Kingdom in 2019, the FIFA Guardians Safeguarding in Sports seeks to help member associations and confederations to stop football stakeholders, such as players, coaches, officials and staff from being subjected to or engage in abusive behaviour.

Kumwenda said they will use the knowledge learnt through the course to help in protecting vulnerable groups taking part in footballs and preventing abuses.

“We have learnt how we can prevent and report  Safeguarding concerns like sexual, physical and emotional abuse to various authorities within our association and coming up with code of conduct in sports.

“With support from the leadership, we need to send messages to our football affiliates about the effects of abuses and how athletes can open up to our Safeguarding officers.

“We also expect our players and Al stakeholders to open up and report the abuses that they are facing in the game”, said Kumwenda.