Football Association of Malawi (Fam) President, Walter Nyamilandu, has said it is premature to speculate about the future of a football technical centre project which the Federation of Royal Moroccan Football (FRMF) pledged to fund in Lilongwe.
“Nothing to the contrary [about FRMF’s commitment to the project] but only time will tell. Let us wait and see. The project was deferred. We will seek an update in due course,” Nyamilandu said about the K3.6 billion [$5 million] partnership with the FRMF.
The project, which was supposed to start by now, hangs in the balance after Morocco lost its bid for the 2016 World Cup to United Bid comprising Mexico, the United States and Canada.
The United Bid beat Morocco 134-65 during a vote by Fifa member associations, including Fam—which opted for the North Africans—in Russia on Wednesday.
But Nyamilandu insisted that he had no regrets over his choice as he is a proud African and he could not betray his roots.
“This continent has tremendous potential and we have been marginalised for a long time. We need to show the rest of the world that we are capable of excelling in life. Africa has come of age, having moved away from our colonial masters a long time ago.
“South Africa did it in 2010 and exceeded everyone’s expectation. Morocco would have been unique because the World Cup would have gone to a new place that would have offered a new experience.
“The rich cultural heritage and attractive tourist centres should have been the differentiating factor. All this was ignored by the voters in favour of the Super Power, USA, and the money that it was bringing to the table,” Nyamilandu said.
Last year, Morocco reached out to most African football associations, pledging financial support to football projects, in what was seen as a campaign to drum up support for the 2026 World Cup bid.
Under the agreement, the Moroccan government also promised to inject the money into infrastructure projects such as fitting an artificial turf at Luwinga Technical Centre in Mzuzu and natural grass at Chilomoni Stadium in Blantyre.
After signing the agreement, RMFF website also indicated that the two countries would embark on exchange visits so as to share expertise on football development.
“In the framework of activating the partnership agreement concluded on April 1 2017 between the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and the Malawi Football Federation, a delegation from the Malawian [FA] visited Morocco with the sports director of the Ministry [of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development] in order to find out the sports facilities for football in our country and the organisational aspects of Moroccan football through its structure and levels of practice,” the post read in part.
The Moroccans, who are in the same qualifying group for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations with the Flames, Comoros Islands and hosts Cameroon, also hosted teams such as Malawi and Togo in an invitational tournament last year.
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