The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has been given the green light by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to conduct the CAF A Coaching Course, a development officials say marks a major step forward for the country’s football after a decade-long absence of the programme.
FAM Technical Director Yvon Avry said the association met all eight requirements under the CAF Coaching Convention to earn the approval, and that active coaches from the country’s top-flight clubs will be prioritised when the course begins.
“We will select active coaches in the top clubs, that means the Super League, National League and Women’s National League, because it is important to give an impact to our top-level football. We will list all of them and give priority in liaison with the National Football Coaches Association,” Avry said.
Malawi last conducted a CAF A course in 2016. Avry explained that CAF overhauled its coach education requirements six years ago, compelling member associations to develop updated, high-level syllabuses before being cleared to run the courses again — a process that had locked Malawi out of offering the qualification until now.
“For our history, the last CAF A course we conducted was in 2016, 10 years ago. That means, in 10 years, we regressed in our level of football because we were not developing coaches well,” he said.
While FAM had continued to run CAF B courses during that period, Avry said the return of CAF A — the second-highest coaching qualification on the continent, behind only the Pro Licence — will directly benefit coaches operating at the game’s highest levels, including the national teams.
“Yes, we could manage up to CAF B, but now we are speaking about high level. We are speaking about top teams, the men’s national team, women’s national team, youth and senior teams. This will have a big impact on our football. Developing coaching is important and necessary to develop the level of football,” he said.
FAM President Fleetwood Haiya described the approval as a significant milestone in the association’s broader push to transform Malawian football through investment in technical capacity, noting that the country can now offer one of Africa’s highest coaching qualifications locally rather than coaches having to seek it elsewhere.
National Football Coaches Association Chairperson Aubrey Nankhuni welcomed the development, paying tribute to those who worked behind the scenes to secure it.
“It’s exciting and it’s what as Football Coaches Association we have been waiting [for]. It’s history, we will remember those who wrote the manual document for it to be allowed by CAF for Malawi to conduct CAF A,” Nankhuni said, thanking Avry, former technical director Benjamin Kumwenda who initiated the process, and coach instructor Captain John Kaputa.
Nankhuni added that Malawi currently has 47 CAF A-qualified coaches and around 120 holding the CAF B licence, with numbers steadily rising. He also urged coaches not to focus solely on Super League opportunities, encouraging some to work at grassroots level to nurture young talent.
“We are appreciating Football Association of Malawi that they are doing everything on their part to develop football… we want to advise our coaches to think of coaching super league teams only, we can even start coaching small teams to groom talent so that we start from grassroots football,” he said.
