BY KONDWANI KANDIADO- CONTRIBUTOR
Football Association Malawi (FAM) president Fleetwood Haiya has announced the introduction of FAM district league games from this year’s football season replacing the FAM Cup.
He said this on Sunday during the finals of Dowa district FAM cup played at Champions stadium between Mponela FC and Dowa Hammers.
Haiya said the introduction of FAM district leagues which he said will feature under 21 players aims at promoting grassroots football in the country.
“We feel these leagues are going to give more opportunities to more young players at district level to play in super league and national team
If we miss a player at district level it will be very hard for us to identify a player at super league level so we would like to give a platform to the youngsters at this level,” he said.
He observed that Malawi football has lagged because it has been relying much on players that have played for the national team for over 15 years to 20 years.
The FAM president however expressed satisfaction with the way how the Central Region football association and District football associations have run the league.
The finals saw Mponela FC beating Dowa Hammers FC 5-4 on post match penalties after the teams were tied at 2-2 at the end of the regulation time.
Speaking during post match interviews Mponela FC team manager Dzinkambanin Sitolo said his team had carried the day because it had featured a lot of youngsters.
His counterpart, Dalitso Chithyola of Dowa Hammers FC conceded defeat but blamed the loss on officiation.
Pic: Haiya presenting some medals to the winning team.
