Malawi Women’s National Football Team Coach Lovemore Fazili will not be the one calling the shots at the 2027 Fifa Women’s Fifa World Cup finals in Brazil.
The famous gaffer faces ‘demotion’ ahead of the World Cup as he does not possess the Confederation of African Football (Caf) A-coaching licence required to serve as head coach at next year’s event.
The 2027 Fifa Women’s World Cup finals are scheduled for June 24 to July 25.
Football Association President Fleetwood Haiya told Zodiak on Monday that the association would be forced to reshuffle the technical panel because Fazili does not have the Caf A coaching licence. of Malawi (Fam)
But Haiya was quick to say Fazili would remain part of the Scorchers’ technical panel at the World Cup finals, albeit in a different role.
“It will be difficult for Lovemore Fazili to lead the Scorchers at the World Cup because, even if he passes the examinations , the names are required to be submitted before the Caf A examination results are released,” Haiya said.
Fazili, who currently holds a Caf B coaching licence, led the Scorchers to a historic runners-up position at the 2026 Caf Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) finals in Morocco and qualification to their first-ever Fifa Women’s World Cup.
Fazili was allowed to lead the Scorchers at the Wafcon finals as he had an existing contract.
His contract is set to expire on October 31 this year.
Prior to the Wafcon finals, Fam roped in Sudesh Singh and Tyrese Steyn as technical advisor and data analyst, respectively.
However, Fazili’s assistants, Maggie Chombo and Abasi Makawa, have Caf A coaching licences.
Fazili was among the local coaches who failed to upgrade after Caf did not give Fam the mandate to host Caf A coaching courses for 11 years.
The last time Fam hosted the course was in 2016.
Fazili has a chance to upgrade his qualification as Fam is expected to host the course next month.
Haiya said the timing of the course and the submission deadline for the global event could prevent Fazili from serving as a head coach, even if he successfully completes the training.
In an interview yesterday, Fazili said he was ready to serve in any position.
“I have no problem with the new arrangement,” Fazili said.
The requirements also affected Malawi Under-20 National Football Team Coach Enos Chatama, who was barred from leading the junior Flames during the Caf Afcon qualifiers in Mozambique.
The-then Silver Strikers Ladies coach Andrew Chikhosi also faced a similar situation at the Caf Women’s Champions League in Botswana.