Malawi coach rues Nigeria’s WAFCON winner Okafor’s snub

Malawi’s senior women’s national football team coach Lovemore Fazili has finally commented on striker Chioma Okafor’s decision to snub the Scorchers and represent Nigeria’s Super Falcons.

Fazili commented on the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON-winner on Monday when responding to questions from the local media over why he had not called up America-based players in the Scorchers squad.

The coach named a 27-member squad of all home-based players to face Lesotho in friendlies scheduled for Blantyre at the end of the month.

Such a selection prompted the media to ask Fazili whether he was not afraid of losing out on the team’s prospects based overseas just as was the case with Okafor.

However, Fazili said he did all he could to have the United States-based student-cum professional footballer Okafor play for Malawi.

“We had been inviting her, and I even have emails which unfortunately I cannot share with your members of the press,” the coach said.

“The problem is that most of the players are in the United States primarily for studies and when you call them, they give excuses that they are writing examinations. As a coach, there is nothing you can do in such a situation except to wait when they would be available. It is different from players like Temwa [Chawinga] who went to America for football.”

The 23-year-old was born to a Malawian mother and Nigerian father. Such a situation made Okafor eligible to represent either country. Therefore, the Nigerian Football Federation pulled a fast one to convince the America-based player to represent the Super Falcons.

Okafor eventually made the squad that won the 2025 WAFCON title despite not playing a single game at the tournament in Morocco. Okafor recently shed light on the reason that led her to commit her international future to the Super Falcons, despite also being eligible for Malawi.

Okafor cited her ambition to compete at the highest level of international football. The forward made this known in an interview with Ademola Victor TV, where she admitted that it was a tough decision to make, but one which was done for her personal development.

“It wasn’t an easy decision. I needed to play with players that are better than myself. With time Malawi will get there but time is always ticking. I can’t just keep on waiting, I had to take the opportunity.”

Okafor also thanked the Super Falcons for welcoming her warmly into the team.

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