Rude welcome for Malawi

SOCCER – Malawi national team, The Flames arrived in Swaziland only to get a rude welcome yesterday.

First, nobody went to meet the team at the Matsapha International Airport on arrival, except for a bus that was to take the team to their camping venue, which had also somewhat changed from Tum’s George Hotel in Manzini to Simunye Country Club.

It turned out that the Tum’s George Hotel was fully-booked, despite the FA revealing early this week that the Malawi national team would camp there, while Sihlangu SeMnikati camps at the nearby Global Village. The two teams meet in a friendly game at the Trade Fair grounds on Sunday, starting at 3:30p.m.

Malawi players were shocked when the bus took the long route to Simunye Country Club, about 70 kilometres away from Manzini, jetlag and all.

When they got to Simunye, the delegation refused to disembark from the bus for about three hours, threatening to return home. They felt the Simunye Country Club was a far cry from what they expected, apart from the fact that it is obviously very far from the venue of the friendly match.

The players felt that any accommodation prepared for a national team should match FIFA standards, in spite of the fact that this is only a friendly game.

Head of delegation McCollings Chibvunde, who was also stranded for about three hours at the airport, hungry and exhausted, said they were very disappointed with the NFAS.

He said he agreed to have the team sleep overnight, but did not mince words about returning to Malawi if the FA failed to find proper accommodation by the end of today.

Chibvunde added that they were yet to call their football authorities back home to consult about the next move.

He said they could not just walk away because the two football associations (NFAS and Malawi FA) had a good relationship hence they had to be diplomatic on what actions to take.

"It would be an embarrassment if we did anything stupid. Even FIFA would be shocked. We see this only in East Africa, where they usually do this to disturb us ahead of a game, psychologically or otherwise. It's unfair to us," he said.

Chibvunde said visitors were supposed to be treated well.

Meanwhile, the coach was so angry he declined to speak to the media.

A meeting was hastily organised late last night, where FA President Frederick Mngomezulu and first vice-president Timothy Shongwe met the Malawi delegation.

Interviewed after the meeting, Mngomezulu said they had no idea when the team would be arriving at the airport and expected a call on arrival.

"After they called us at around 3p.m, we then sent someone to meet them. Already, a bus from the Ministry of Home Affairs was waiting at airport, from 11a.m," he said.

He added that when they met the Malawi officials last night, the leader of the delegation was not happy with the distance between Simunye and the venue of the match, while the coach complained that the venue was not up to standard.

He said the FA was also concerned about the venue but they will do everything to make sure the visitors are happy, adding that they would be looking for an alternative accomodation around Ezulwini. But he said that would depend on the availability of a training facility as well as rooms for the delegation.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports are to the effect that the team may be booked at Why Not Disco and Nightclub.

On another note, as earlier reported that Malawi was bringing a strong squad as they were taking this game seriously, all international players arrived yesterday. They include two who ply their trade in Tanzania, six from South Africa and two European-based players.