Fam lied to Malawians, Marinica signed a three-year contract

Football Association of Malawi lied to Malawians when they reported that Flames Head Coach, Mario Marian Marinica signed a one-year contract while in actual sense the Romanian signed a three-year deal.

The Romanian has been under criticism for his style of play and failing to qualify for the quarterfinals of the on-going 2022 Hollywoodbets Cosafa Cup in Durban, South Africa.

The Flames were booted out of the competition after recording one win, ine draw and one loss.

The below-par performance prompted criticism from football pundits, and supporters, as they are demanding the Romanian be sacked before Afcon qualifiers in September.

However, the Football governing body technical subcommittee Chairperson Tiya Somba Banda has thrown away the calls as he has stated that the Coach can only be sacked after failing to win either the Cosafa or qualifying for the Chan finals.

“The Coach is doing well. We have recorded some progress in every match that we played at the Cosafa Cup where he had an opportunity to try some players who rarely feature for the National Team,” said Banda.

Somba Banda further added that the Cosafa tournament helped in shaping the team ahead of the 2023 African Cup of Nations, Afcon Qualifiers against Egypt in September.

Banda’s sentiments mean that Mario has to deliver in two more Cosafa and Chan tournaments after signing a three-year deal with Fam.

After a terrible campaign at the regional competition, Marinica begged the media to exercise patience as he continues to remedy the team.

However, National Football Coaches Association Chairperson Aubrey Nankhuni said failing to qualify for the quarterfinals of the tournament after naming a strong squad was a terrible performance.

“We failed as a team. We could not qualify for the quarterfinals and that was it. All this coming after we named a highly experienced team capable of winning the tournament! We also failed to get anywhere with the team’s 4-3-3 formation.

“Problems with this formation were clear in our opening match against Lesotho, which we lost 2-1. But the team improved in the last game against Mauritius, when we reverted to our traditional 4-4-2 system,” Nankhuni said.

Senior Sports Journalist, Piliran Kachinziri has criticised the association for hiding the truth from the Malawians.

“Finally they told us that he came as a Technical Director, then they changed him to be the Head Coach. They keep on changing statements, this shows that they are incompetent.

” They should know that they leading the association which belongs to Malawians. They are giving the failure a three-year deal, what is he doing in the team?” asked Kanjere.

Senior Kanjere added that all the problems with our football in Malawi are caused by Fam.

“Marinica has no history of coaching any national team, this means that he is not the right choice,” added Kanjere.