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Walter unpacks ‘RAISING THE BAR’

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) aspiring presidential candidate Walter Nyamilandu yesterday unpacked his ‘Raising The Bar’ manifesto in Blantyre at a function witnessed by the association’s affiliates and his supporters.

Clad in a navy-blue suit, a white shirt and a red neck tie, Nyamilandu was greeted by scores of his diehards before addressing the gathering.

In his speech he justified his decision to seek a fifth term, saying he was a tried and tested material.

_ Sulom to get Chilomoni Stadium
_ Affiliates’ subvention up to K10m
_ Flames to qualify to 2026 World Cup
_ To establish Flames Trust
_ Clubs to get CAF starter-pack

“I have been with you for 15 years. I have seen it all. I have weathered the storm. I believe I have never let you down.

“I believe deep down in your hearts you know I am the best candidate. That’s why I am standing hear bold enough to tell Malawians that I will seek fifth term. Malawians are you with me?” said a charged Nyamilandu.

In his 60-paged manifesto, the incumbent promises to take football standards higher once re-elected.

Super League of Malawi (Sulom) features highly in the manifesto in which Nyamilandu promises to empower the affiliate to champion the realisation of ‘Raising The Bar’ through decentralisation of club licencing.

To achieve this, he has promised to lease out Chilomoni Stadium, formerly MDC Stadium, to Sulom.

But knowing that Sulom lacks capacity, Nyamilandu has promised to facilitate the hiring of a chief executive officer for Sulom by subsidising the costs.

Once re-elected, he has also promised to lobby for multiple sponsorships for Super League.

Nyamilandu has also promised to increase Sulom subvention from K7 million to K15 million, a development Sulom president Tiya Somba Banda described as a move in the right direction.

 “At last we are on the same page. It’s like an egg-chicken relationship. If you feed the chicken well, you get a healthy egg and if you have a healthy egg, you will have a healthy chick,” he said.

‘Raising The Bar’ also pledges to introduce Zambezi Challenge to be participated by top four clubs from Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“Our local clubs can only get better if they are consistently playing against opposition from other countries,” said Nyamilandu.

The manifesto promises women’s football a national league plus its own  technical director and K10 million subvention increament.

Regional associations have not been left out as Nyamilandu has pledged to increase their subvention from the current K5 million to K10 million by 2021.

National Youth Football Association will also get the same increment by 2020 while Beach Soccer Association has been promised a stadium and an introduction of K5 million subvention.

On players’ welfare, Nyamilandu promises to introduce Flames Trust to act as a source of funding towards national teams to be managed by  a team that shall ensure that there is transparency and accountability in the management of the fund.

To that end Nyamilandu promised that under his leadership the Flames will win the 2020 Cosafa Cup, qualify to 2021 and 2023 African Cup of Nations and the 2026 World Cup.

Southern Region Football Association (SRFA) chairperson Raphael Humba, who attended the launch, said he was impressed by the blueprint.  

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