Football Association of Malawi says elite football system needs to be strengthened to maximize its potential.
FAM Vice President Jabbar Alide said this on Sunday morning during the official opening of the four-day UEFA Assist League development programme which is aimed at building capacity for Super League clubs and Super League of Malawi in order to professionalise the Super League and club development, by providing long term development plan for football in the country.
“This training will provide a platform to the administrators to understand the basics of football development like governance, fundraising, operation as well as the general day to day management of the game.
“There are clubs in the country who have already taken a path towards professionalisation but we believe this workshop will enhance their knowledge towards the same so that they master the art of professionalisation and indeed benefit from it.
“Our plea to the clubs is that they should take the workshop very seriously and make use of the practical lessons from the Uefa experts if we are to develop our football in the country,” he said.
In his remarks, Super League of Malawi Vice President Lt. Col. Gilbert Mitawa said the workshop will cement the objectives that the current Sulom administration has on proffesionalising the league.
“It’s a very exciting program which borders in the proffesionalising the league and this workshop is a great opportunity to help us as League managers and our affiliates to understand the essentials of management of the elite league so that we shift from an amateurish approach to professionalism.
“As League Managers, Sulom will make follow ups with the clubs to understand how they are using the knowledge and skills gained from the four days as we have already started engaging the clubs in regards to professionalisation and this will add to the recipe that we already had as Sulom”, he said.
Eufa Head of International Relations Eva Pasquier, who is facilitating the course together with Uefa Experts Geoff Wilson and Stuart Larman, said : “ We believe that the Clubs are the backbone of football in the country and if the Clubs are strong, then football in the country is strong so the aim is to assist the clubs to grow to another level and be stronger so that they produce better players.
“Malawi has good football structures and football is the number one sport in the country with the people having the passion and interest in the game and if we put these fundamentals together, then we will be on a right track.
“As UEFA, we are not stopping after the four days but we will continue with a mentoring programme that we will do with the clubs in collaboration with FAM to make sure that they are using what we have taught them so that we make a difference in the country.”
Two representatives from all the 16 Super League clubs plus FAM and Sulom secretariat staff are attending the workshop which will run up to Wednesday.
