Malawi National Football Team Coach Patrick Mabedi has bemoaned two to three days camping for local players and instead wants a minimum of three weeks to transform the senior side.
The Flames mentor cast doubts on the quality of Super League players, saying he needed two or three weeks of camping sessions to build a formidable side.
“My brother, looking at the quality of local players we have, we need at least two to three weeks full-time camping. That would be okay but I do not want to interfere with the league,” Mabedi said.
Mabedi encountered challenges when the Flames were preparing for back-to-back 2026 Group H World Cup qualifiers against Sao Tome and Equatorial Guinea as top Super League teams clung to their players, refusing to release them for camping.
“We had two days a week camping, which was on Monday and Tuesday. Then we released the players on Wednesday morning to join their clubs. Local players need special training. As we all know, we are not like some European countries where leagues are more advanced than us and quality of their players is better than that of us,” Mabedi, whose side beat Sao Tome 3-1 and lost to Equatorial Guinea 1-0, said.
The former FCB Nyasa Big Bullets and Kaizer Chiefs skipper said with the current TNM Super League setup, it is not possible to have the free 21 days camping and that, as such, he is forced to do with piece-meal camping.
“Unlike last year, when we went for Cosafa Cup and the Tunisia and Guinea Bissau games, this time, against Sao Tome and Equatorial Guinea, we did not have the luxury of such time. Teams refused to release players and we only had local players two to three days before the match,” Mabedi said.
However, football analyst Roy Abramo M’dechi differed with Mabedi, arguing players were fit since the 2024 TNM Super League was in camp.
“For me, I think the coach has always had enough time with these players. The players are active at their respective teams. As such, asking for three weeks is not ideal. Maybe if he would talk about just a week,” M’dechi.
Flames are fourth in Group H of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers with six points from four matches and are four points behind leaders Tunisia and two behind second-placed Namibia. Liberia are third, with seven points, in the World Cup qualifiers.
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