Silver Coach De Jongh Asks Football Administrators, Media to Play fair Play

By Antony Isaiah Jr…….

Silver Strikers Head Coach, Hendricus Pieter De Jongh continues to hog headlines in Malawi’s Football as he has taken another swipe at both Super League of Malawi and Football Association of Malawi.

During his pre-match Press Conference on Friday, De Jongh has asked the Super League of Malawi to hand the League Championship to Bullets saying the decisions thatbare being made are favouring the people’s team.

The Dutchman who is expected to fly to Netherlands on Sunday morning said the way fixtures are being lined up and calling players for the National Team camping when there is no fifa holiday will make his team to fail to win the league which is one of his targets in his contract.

Silver Strikers, Dedza Dynamos Salima Sugar Football Club fixture was initially scheduled for Friday, 19th May, 2023 but it was rescheduled for Saturday, 20th May, 2023 which did not go well with De Jongh.

“We have been training for two weeks without a competitive game, is this normal? We had to play our game on Friday but it was rescheduled for Saturday, on 20th May and then my flight is on Sunday, am really surprised by the decisions that are being made by Sulom. On Monday it was holiday and they postponed the game from Friday to Saturday, that’s very unprofessional.

“Am very surprised with the fixture. They are giving us a game next week Friday and Sunday. That’s normal? Is it professional? This is very armature. The game against Hammers was [played] on a very terrible pitch,” he said.

The former AFC Leopards mentor said he was surprised that his suspension continues yet Peter Mgangira was given the Red Card last season which ended after the same game.

“My Assistant Coach, Peter [Mgangira] got suspended last season but it ended just after the game. I spoke with the boss of the referee and he said that it is not possible that you bare suspended and after the game its finished, we ask for the explanation for this,” added.

On the players joining the National Team Camp, De Jongh said its very unprofessional for players to join the Camp while it’s not during FIFA holiday.

“I had a meeting with the Flames Coach [Patrick Mabedi], a very good meeting and we agreed that he will communicate the plan on the players that he wants. He agreed that he needs to send me a plan and we had to look to the plan. But I never seen the plan.

“On Wednesday after the training, I was told that my five players have been selected for National Team duty, without consulting me, is it professional? There is no fifa calendar? I allowed to release the players because if I fail to do so, the players will not have a good mind on me.

“This is not the way, the interim Coach for National Team and Football Association of Malawi should be in contact with Sulom. Next week I will miss five players and then Friday we have the game, is it normal? Give the title to Bullets, Bullets congratulations for winning the title in 2023,” ranted De Jongh.

De Jongh also took a swipe at the local media for claiming that he is not eligible to to coach the club in CAF Champions League or CAF Confederations Cup because he doesn’t have CAF Coaching License and Pro Coaching License.

De Jongh has argued that he wouldn’t have coached Somalia national football team if he didn’t have those papers.

“Today, I read about CAF, wrong information. I am 85 percent to finalize my Pro License Coaching License, and I submitted everything to my CEO. I did courses in Spain, I once coached Somalia because I have the license. How is it possible to coach Somalia National team if I don’t have those papers? That’s fake news. I should have finalized this, but I was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Please remove your Jersey of Wanderers or Bullets in your writings, talk about the irregularities in our football, how fixtures are arranged, and many more, not this fake news,” he furiously ranted.

Silver Strikers are 2nd on the table with 10 points from four games.

On facing Dedza, De Jongh said he is 100% sure that they will win the game.

“We watched Dedza Dynamos playing at Nankhaka last week, i think they are a good side and they play good football unfortunately we will play at a pitch that is not in a perfect condition. We are prepared for the match regardless”, he said.