Tag Archives: Football Association of Malawi (FAM) President Walter Nyamilandu

Sports

RSA Football Legend, Phil Masinga dies as tributes pour

Lloyd M’bwana

The late South Africa’s Bafana Bafana soccer legend Phil Masinga 

PRETORIA-(MaraviPost)-The South Africa’s Bafana Bafana soccer legend Phil Masinga has died.

Buddha Mathathe‚ the president of the South African Masters and Legend Football Association‚ told TimesLIVE that Masinga passed away at a Parktown hospital on Sunday morning after a long illness.

“He is gone. Our legend is gone…….It is not right‚” said an emotional Mathathe on Sunday morning.

“It is such tragic loss for the family and for the entire country. “He is no ordinary legend‚ he was an international legend.”

Meanwhile tributes from different sports pundits have been pouring following Phil’s death including  Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu who described former South African international Phil Masinga,  the best target striker Bafana Bafana ever had.

Nyamilandu, himself a former Malawian international defender, played against Masinga’s Bafana Bafana side in 1996 during the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre before the second leg in South Africa in which the Flames lost 1-4 on aggregate.

“Phil was a legend,” Nyamilandu said. “He was the best target striker Bafana ever had. He was the toughest opponent I faced. Memories are still fresh in me of the World Cup preliminary match against Bafana in 1996 at Kamuzu Stadium.”

The World Cup match at Kamuzu Stadium attracted a mammoth crowd after the Bafana Bafana had won their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations which they hosted in 1996.

They brought stars like Mark Fish, Lucas Radebe, Mark Williams, Linda Buthelezi, Andre Arendse, Doctor Khumalo, Sizwe Montaung among others who made a name for themselves during the 1996 AFCON finals.

Leeds United together with his compatriot Lucas Radebe when the club was in the top flight English Premier League. Prior to Leeds Masinga also had spells at St Gallen in Switzerland and Italian clubs Salernitana and Bari.

The Flames then had stars such as Ernest Mtawali, Chauncy Gondwe, Hendrix Banda, Navigaror Dzinkambani, Patrick Mabedi, Albert Mpinganjira and others.

Mtawali, who also played alongside Masinga in South Africa, said: “Phil was one of the best strikers I played with and a humble and great human being who wanted everybody to succeed in whatever they were doing. I will miss him as he was my best friend as well may his soul rest in peace.”

South Africa Football Association president Danny Jordaan said: “This is a sad day for South African football. [Masinga was] a loyal servant of the game, on and off the field of play.”

Fellow African legend, Zambian Kalusha Bwalya wrote on Twitter: “My heart is deeply saddened by the loss of my former opponent, my gallant colleague and African

football legend Phil Masinga. Gone too soon. Rest In Peace my brother.”

Former Malawian football star, Harry Msiska, now a national

darts team player, said: “I will remember Phil as one of the players who was a role model to many African kids not only in South Africa but Africa as the whole.

“He is one of those black players who made grades in football despite aphatheid in RSA. My memory of him is when Malawi played Bafana Bafana for the first time in Blantyre and I used to watch him when he was at Leeds United.”

Before going overseas, Masinga also played for Jomo Cosmos and

Mamelodi Sundowns with his cousin Bennett Masinga and he represented South Africa in 58 international games, scoring 18 goals.

According to Wikipedia, he grew up playing for Jomo Cosmos before joining South African major league side Mamelodi Sundowns which was the springboard for his stint for England side Leeds United in a package deal with Lucas Radebe.

He played in the English Premiership for two years, playing 31 games and scoring five goals, and also scored a hat-trick in an FA Cup tie against Walsall on 17 January 1995.

Masinga played 10 games in Switzerland with St. Gallen and then moved to Italyto play for Salernitana, scoring four goals in 16 games. He then spent 4 years playing for Bari.

In 2000, a return to English Football with Coventry City fell through after he failed to secure a work permit.

After winning the African Cup of Nations on home soil, Bafana Bafana failed to defend the title in 1998 in Burkina Faso after losing to Egypt in the final but ‘Chippa’, as he was affectionately known, scored the decisive goal in the 1997 game against the Republic of the Congo that took South Africa to the 1998 World Cup in France, their first-ever appearance.

Masinga made his debut for South Africa in July 1992 against Cameroon in his country’s first match following readmission to international football by Fifa after the end of Apartheid.

Masinga’s former team-mate at Leeds, Noel Whelan wrote on Twitter: “Really sad news to learn that a guy I spent so much time with, laughs and games together has passed away. He was not just a friend and strike partner but one of the nicest kindest guys I’ve met. It was a pleasure and privilege to have know and played with you Phil, always in my heart.”

In 2014, Masinga, in the company of Mark Fish, visited Malawi to play in a charity event — the Special Olympics Unified match at the Civo Stadium, which was a curtain raiser of the first ever African Leaders Forum on Disability which Malawi hosted at the Bingu International Conference Centre at the initiative of former President Joyce Banda

Masinga was admitted into Tshepong Hospital in Klerksdorp last month and then later moved to Parktown.

The lanky 49-year old earned more than 50 caps for Bafana and it was his scintillating goal from 30 yards against Congo that got SA to a maiden appearance at the World Cup in 1998.

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RVG mumbles in Malawi’s Flames 2018 performances

Maravi Post Reporter

 

By Lusekero Mhango

 

Under fire Malawi National Football team’s coach Ronny Van Geneudgen says his flames charges has made huge strides in 2018 despite going the year winless.

 

His remarks comes as Malawi has fallen to 130th position in the FIFA world rankings.

 

Under RVG,the team has played eight games,registering four draws and four defeats in the year 2018

 

The Belgian tactician says his mission has been successful as the team is now able to play a possession based passing style.

 

“We are playing some wonderful football, very eye catching for the fans as evidenced in the match against Cameroon despite not winning but we impressed,” he claimed.

 

He said he is positive for the future as good results are around the corner as the  flames new generation of players have bought into his philosophy.

 

However ,Football Association of Malawi  (FAM) President Walter Nyamilandu has admitted that results on the pitch have been disappointing.

 

“We invested a lot but the results hasn’t been positive,we only had good performance from our junior national team but not on the senior side

 

 

 

“Seriously,our fans are not satisfied with the flames perfomance.We are optimistic that the journey that we have embarked on will start reaping fruits,”lamented Nyamilandu

 

The Malawi national team will next be in action in March in the afcon qualifiers against morocco.

Sports

Sports Minister Chiumia  to summon coach RVG, Flames players over poor performance

Maravi Post Reporter

 

Sports Minister to summon RVG, Flames players

The fallout between the country’s football fraternity and Malawi national football team coaches has reached critical levels, with the government planning to intervene on the matter.

It was clearly evident that Flames Coach Ronny van Geneugden (RVG) and his assistant Peter Mponda are no longer wanted as the two were booed on Tuesday at Kamuzu Stadium when Malawi under-23 drew 1-1 against Botswana.

Fans loudly protested each time RVG or Mponda stood to shout instructions to players on the pitch.

The atmosphere at the stadium was so tense that Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu was forced to use the dressing room exit after the match.

Nyamilandu is under fire for backing the Belgian and insisting that the Flames are on the right track despite registering no victory in their last five matches.

Minister of Labour, Youth Sports and Manpower Development, Grace Chiumia, who watched the Tuesday match, said she is planning to convene separate special meetings with RVG and his players to find solutions.

Chiumia was speaking in Parliament on Thursday when she was asked about the team’s dismal performance in recent years.

She said as a minister, she does not want to rush to pointing fingers at any one before meeting all the stakeholders.

“We understand all concerns about our team’s performance but we should not be quick to point fingers at some one. My plans are to meet the coach himself to find out from him and also meet the players separately without interference so that I appreciate what are the problems.

“After that, I will meet other stakeholders in the game. I believe that after the three meetings, we will manage to find the real reasons behind the problems that are there,” Chiumia said as quoted in the Malawi News .

Nyamilandu has refused to step down from his post, saying he would continue serving until the end of his term which expires in December next year.

Malawi failed to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations finals to be staged in Cameroon after losing 2-1 to Comoros.

The FAM boss further infuriated the country’s soccer lovers when he said that Malawi had lost to a France select side, claiming that most of the players Comoros featured in the match came from the European country.

In the qualifiers, the Flames have only managed a single 1-0 win over Comoros at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe but lost to Morocco 3-0 , Cameroon 1-0 before a goal-less draw and a 2-1 loss to the Indian Ocean island team whose population is less than 500,000.

Since RVG took over in April last year, the Flames have only won two games, drawing nine and lost eight out of 19 games. In the Afcon qualifiers, Malawi has scored just two goals against six.

Sports

Malawi’s FA President Nyamilandu elected to FIFA Council

Lloyd M’bwana
By Nenenji Mlangeni
CAIRO-(MaraviPost)-Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu was over the weekend elected for the post of African Anglophone of the FIFA Council during the elective General Assembly held on Sunday September 30 in Egypt by beating South Africa Football Association president Danny Jordaan by 35 votes to 18.
He was first up against Jordaan and Tanzanian Leodegar Tenga and Nyamilandu collected 23 votes, Jordan 16 and Tenga 14 but there was no majority.
A second round was then declared between Nyamilandu and Jordan that saw the Malawian beat the majority rule.
The FIFA Council, formerly called the FIFA Executive Committee is an institution of the world football governing body whose mandate is to make main decisions of the organization in the intervals of the FIFA Congress.
The Council is a non-executive, supervisory and strategic body that sets the vision for FIFA and global football.
The African Anglophone position fell vacant after the resignation of Ghana Football Association president, Kwesi Nyantakyi and COSAFA nominated the three candidates.
Recently there was a section of the public that wanted to demonstrate in the streets demanding Nyamilandu’s resignation following the national team’s 0-3 loss Morocco in the ongoing 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
But he refused to bow down to that pressure, saying he will finish out his term in the next 15 months as entrusted by the FAM general assembly and that he won’t seek another term of office.
He also cleared the air by saying FIFA rules allow national associations’ members to continue as FIFA Councillors even when they relinquish their post at the expiry of their term of office.
On the part of the Flames performance, Nyamilandu said all is not lost in as far as the AFCON campaign is concerned because they have played two games in which they won one and lost the other. The Flames have three points just like Morocco and just a point behind the leaders Cameroon.
On his part, he outlined several developments he has successfully set up such as promotion of women’s football through the launch of the FAM Women’s Leagues, integrated youth competitions with the launch of the FAM Under 15 leagues and Presidential Under 17 leagues.
There has been  also calls for the resignation of the Flames’ coach Ronny Van de Geneughden (RVG) over the team’s poor performance but Nyamilandu defended the Belgian, arguing that he was engaged to help build a strong team to take it to the AFCON 2019 and he has not yet failed the target he was given.
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Sigh of relief; Airtel top 8 on next edition….as Lilongwe media amasses awards

Lloyd M’bwana
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-There was sigh of relief on Thursday when the country’s smartphone network provider Airtel Malawi disclosed that the prestigious Airtel Top 8 Cup will be held next year.
The assurance comes amid fears that the tournament will not be played following the fracas that occurred during the final match between Big Bullets and Blue Eagles.
The fracas erupted when the referee awarded a penalty to Eagles at 58 seconds before the end of the game that later the later scored which did not go well with Bullets  fans.
Eventually Bullets players and supporters started beating up referee and running battles with police offers.
But despite the hooliganism Airtel Malawi Managing Director, Charles Kamoto disclosed that the tournament will come again next year with a bag.
Kamoto was quick to condemn the violence urging all football lovers in the country to embrace the development of soccer.
He added that the company sees football as a platform for family entertainment where it should free from any violence.
In his remarks, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) President Walter Nyamilandu said Airtel has demonstrated a fatherly heart for the consideration of tournament next year.
Nyamilandu assured football lovers that the association will put drastic measures to curb hooliganism that soccer development be promoted.
The event witnessed Airtel warding outstanding journalists who carried the tournament’s articles which Lilongwe dominated.
Below are wards list of the players, fan and media;
“Top 8 Individual Sports Awards*
1. Top goal scorer – *Joseph Kamwendo* (Be Forward Wanderers) – MK500,000.00
Scored 2 goals both through  penalty.
2. Top 8 Player of the tournament – *John Soko* (Goal Keeper for Blue Eagles) – MK500,000.00
He never conceded any goal in the entire tournament. His team played 4 games, scored 3 goals one each against Mafco, Silver Strikers and Nyasa Big Bullets.
3. Top Fan Award – *Kelvin Mtonga* from Mzuzu – MK1 million.
He sent 603 entries for predict and win and vote for your team.
Awards*
1. Best Print Reporter – *Clement Chinoko* (Nation Publications Ltd)
2. Best Radio Reporter – *Frank Kandu* (MBC)
3. Best TV Reporter – *Lucy Kadzongwe* (Rainbow tv)
4. Best Online Reporter – *Mabvuto Kambuwe* (Times)
5. Best Photo journalist – *Emmanuel Simpokolwe* (Times)
Each receiving *MK200,000.00*