Some soccer analysts have said Malawi National Football Team’s failure to qualify for the African Nations Championship (Chan) finals since its inception signifies lack of depth and quality in the domestic football league.
This comes after the Flames were booted out of the 2025 Chan qualifiers following a 2-0 loss to South Africa at Loftus Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, on Sunday.
Malawi exited the competition 2-1 on aggregate after they beat Bafana Bafana 1-0 at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe last week.
The Flames have failed to go past the last hurdle for two consecutive editions.
In 2022, they exited on an away goal rule following a 1-1 stalemate on aggregate.
But the analysts are of the view that the domestic football league lacks a competitive edge and quality, which they say has negatively affected the performance of the Flames in Chan qualifiers, a competition that is meant for local based players only.
Sports analyst Kevin Moyo said the two consecutive editions had exposed flaws in domestic football.
“For example, in the last two editions, we have played against Mozambique and South Africa. We have learned two important elements. Against Mozambique, we were just unlucky as our leagues are of similar quality while against South Africa, we played against a nation with superior technical ability.
“Secondly, as a country, our top league lacks a competitive edge and quality,” Moyo said.
Moyo said there was a need to restructure the domestic football league to enhance competitiveness.
“The league has 16 teams, which is a bit too much, and most teams are points donors. We need a 12-team league which can enhance competition and quality,” he said.
On his part, lawyer David Kanyenda, who watched the match in South Africa, said the defeat to South Africa exposed several shortcomings.
“Our inconsistent participation is part of the problem and makes us lose momentum and continuity. Even for this edition, we entered through the back door.
“Initially, we did not plan to participate at all. On Sunday, we were second best for most phases of the match,” Kanyenda said.
But Kanyenda also blamed the technical panel for poor selection.
“One can also query the technical choices in the starting 11 and substitutions. Why was last week’s match winner Zeliat Nkhoma completely omitted? I expected him to at least be involved as a substitute.
“We had done enough to drag the match into penalties and I thought the technical panel should have managed the match better in the dying minutes. But this is specific to this match and, overall, we have to work harder to nurture raw talent if we are to compete against well resourced teams like Bafana Bafana,” he said.
The domestic league has in recent years exported players to leagues in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
For many years, the local league has failed to export players to the South African Premier Soccer League (PSL).
Currently, Flames striker Frank Gabadinho Mhango is the only recognised Malawian player in the Betway Premiership.
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