By Draxon Maloya
Divisions have emerged among soccer enthusiasts in the country following the Blantyre City Deputy Mayor, Isaac Jomo Osman, and soccer analyst Kim Kamau threatened to report the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) leadership to the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), citing governance concerns.
The criticism stems from petty accusations that the FAM leadership is interfering with regional soccer governing bodies and unduly influencing affiliates to support specific candidates in preparation for the 2027 elective Annual General Meeting.
In an interview on Thursday, Blantyre City Deputy Mayor, Isaac Jomo Osman, who owns Ntopwa FC, echoed his threats to report the leadership of the world soccer governing body, for allegedly failure to address concerns raised by soccer followers.
Ironically, the sports analysts, Kim Kamau who supported the current FAM leadership during the December 2023 elections, have also joined the bandwagon of those criticizing the association’s leadership.
“We have a FAM leadership that is imposing candidates for affiliates by venturing into door-to-door campaigns for those deemed loyal to them,” stated Jomo Osman.
However, several soccer enthusiasts, including the chairperson of Mighty Wanderers supporters in the northern region, Yosefe Misinde and the national team supporters executive committee member, Brown Afiki have described the criticisms as signs of “greed and frustration.”
Misinde argued, “We support the current FAM leadership for the nation’s good of the game, not for personal gains. We know some were supporting Haiya and his executive committee for personal reasons must forget their selfish ambitions.”
Afiki challenged the critics to adopt a positive attitude towards the FAM leadership’s role in transforming the game.
“One year in office is not enough to assess one’s performance. We know people wanted to be appeased with either positions or business favours at FAM, but that’s not how it works,” said Afiki.
Misinde and Afiki pointed to the completion of the Luwinga All Inclusive Technical Centre in Mzuzu, capacity building trainings, increased subventions, and acquisition of vehicles for regional soccer governing bodies as evidence of the FAM leadership’s tremendous achievements within the first year in office.
