Leopards plan to forge close links with Malawi

Black Leopards have unveiled an ambitious plan to establish a long-term relationship with Malawi football fraternity when they tour the country next month.
Leopards want to establish sister relationship with TNM Super League teams and help in exporting Malawian players to Europe.

According to Lidoda Duvha boss David Thidiela will also give priority to Malawian players when signing foreigners after being impressed with the displays of Flame’s trio Peter Mponda, Robert Ng’ambi and Fischer Kondowe.

Thidiela said Leopards were anxiously waiting to play Malawi’s top four clubs during the tour.

“Malawi is now our second home,” Thidiela told the Malawian media.

“The pillar of Black Leopards is Peter Mponda, Robert Ng’ambi and Fischer Kondowe. In addition, we also have our agent Kondie Msungama in Malawi.”

Leopards want to camp for three weeks in Malawi then proceed to Mozambique where they will play a benefit match in honour of their former captain Fernando Matola, who was killed in a car accident alongside his wife and two children while driving from South Africa to Tanzania for an international match for the Mambas three months ago.

Leopards have since given the captaincy to Mponda.

“We want to visit Malawi as a way of saying ‘thank you’ to the Malawians for giving us such quality players,” Thidiela explained.

“We want to plough back to Malawi. We realise that it’s easy for South African players to be spotted by European clubs so we want Leopards to act as a shopping window for Malawian players. We want to help uplift your football standards.”

Leopards would travel to Malawi by bus and want the local teams to provide them food, accommodation and domestic transport. They would not get gate collections.

The dates of the trip are yet to be fixed by Fam and Super League of Malawi (Sulom).

“The Malawian soccer authorities need to speed up preparations for our visit, tell us who we are playing and on which dates and we are ready to come,” Thidiela said.

Sulom president Henry Chibowa has disclosed that Lidoda Duvha will they meet the top four teams, Escom United, MTL Wanderers, Silver Strikers and Big Bullets, this week to strategise on Leopards’ visit.

“We also want to host an international club championship next month, so we are strategising but Leopards’ tour is already confirmed,” Chibowa said.

“We will come up with the actual dates of their tour when we meet the clubs next week but obviously it would be after the Super League’s prize presentation.”

Top teams from Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi are expected to take part in the other club championship being held in a bid to uplift the standards in the countries.

Commenting on Leopards’ visit, Msungama said there was a prospect that the team would sign some players in the January transfer window.

“There is winger we have earmarked but I will disclose his identity when everything is ready,” said Msungama last week.

But Thidiela said currently Leopards had exhausted its quota of five foreign players.

“But if we will spot a good player, we will definitely sign him and sell him to another team in South Africa,” said the Leopards’ boss.