Football Association of Malawi (FAM), says it has set a move to help boost the newly established Luwinga Inclusive Football Academy to become the driving force behind the success of other academies.
In 2023 the country’s football Association partnered with the World Football Governing Body (FIFA) which saw the establishment of Luwinga Academy Project under the FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS).
Writing on his Facebook page after attending a Talent Development Scheme (TDS) Workshop in Cairo, Egypt, a few days ago FAM President Fleetwood Haiya has said the workshop was discussing how best Football Associations can nurture and develop talent through the TDS Platform to inspire a new generation of super stars.
He said: “as you are aware that the grassroots football is the heart and soul of the game which represents the future and denotes strategic thinking for the game to develop beyond our terms of office. The program is closely linked to the export strategy that we are promoting through registered and well-structured football academies in Malawi.
“Besides we have recently embarked on a project that seeks to register all football academies in the country so that we are able to monitor and regulate them effectively.”
According to Haiya, FIFA has promised to support the Mzuzu-based Luwinga Project saying the support will also be extended to other private football academies mainly on capacity building and other elements calling it an exciting and challenging project which will elevate the status of Malawi’s football to new heights.
“As part of this ambitious project we have committed that through TDS, we are going to ensure that we have raised our institutional academy (the Luwinga project) which is already under construction.
We have decided to invest into grassroots football so that these talent development structures should bring their exceptional experience in talent identification from grassroots to professional level while assisting those young talents reach their sporting and academic dreams”, he said.
In April this year, the country’s football governing body made a historic milestone where a total of 27 young talents were identified through U-14 and U-16 FAM Leagues rough diamond tournaments and grassroots football.
The selected individuals are expected to join the Luwinga Inclusive Football Academy which is set to open in July next month.
