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by
George Kasakula, 11 June 2004
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16:11:12
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Why call Mtawali?
So all the thousands of kwacha that were spent on Ernest Mtawali to come over here for the Morocco game last week were blown for nothing because of passport problems. Ostensibly this is coming about because Mtawali also holds a South African passport. Those at Fam cannot say they were not aware of this and so they had no justification to ferry Mtawali here. But the Immigration Department too is to blame. When things are of national importance, they should not be treated as if they were normal things because necessity knows no law. Immigration should concentrate on flashing out many illegal immigrants we see everyday in locations going scot-free other than making matters difficult for people on national duty. Back to Mtawali. I am just wondering whether we still need him at this point for the role of a player. At 38 years old, it is obvious that his days are numbered as a player. The only role that Mtawali can play is coaching with his vast experience. After all, there are many young midfielders such as Pritchard Mwansa and Hellings Mwakasungula in the team who need much exposure to mature into full players.
Not a small issue
I strongly beg to differ with the new broom at Fam, Roosevelt Mpinganjira, who has the cheek to describe the ordeal that Flames were subjected to after being detained at Superior Hotel for the non-payment of a K351,571 bill, as a small issue. The new general secretary of the association must surely know that to be detained by anybody because you did not pay a bill is embarrassing and not a ‘small issue’ as he says. Mpinganjira also says there was communication breakdown between his office and Sports Council hence the problem. But he must know that as a new Fam chief executive officer it is his job to make sure that there is no such communication breakdown to avoid humiliating our players. I suppose the whole saga is Fam’s way of saying thank you to a team that held finalists in the Africa Cup of Nations. Could this be a sign of things to come under a new era of Mr Mpinganjira? That the new Fam GS will be triavialising serious problems? This is trouble and I must admonish Mpinganjira that the soccer fraternity expects him to change things for the better. This is hardly a good beginning.
Go for it, Flames
Going by the five-star performance that Flames exhibited last Saturday against Morocco, it may be easy to say that Sunday’s Cosafa Castle Cup tie against Mozambique is a foregone conclusion. Unfortunately football does not work like that. If Malawi is to win then the Flames must guard against complacency; they must repeat last Saturday’s performance which reduced Morocco to mere amateurs. Realistically speaking, the Cosafa Castle Cup is the only competition in which we can have real hopes of doing well. In fact, we have been doing well for the past two years, reaching both finals. We will not talk of any improvement in the competition unless we eventually win the cup this year. Nothing less can appease this victory-starved nation. And the coaches have no excuse because they have assembled the best players the country has at the moment, including all the professional players. I wish the Flames the best of luck.
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