Malawi FA vows to discipline Super League body

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Fleetwood Haiya says they will take ‘appropriate action’ on its affiliate member, the Super League of Malawi (SULOM).

Addressing the press in Blantyre on Sunday, 26 April 2026, Haiya accused the league governing body of defying the directive against assigning the aborted 2026-2027 FDH Premiership official opening match at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre on Saturday.

The Malawi FA boss hinted on the possible punishment of SULOM after the official FDH Premiership match between Mighty Wanderers and Karonga United failed to take place, as the association stood its ground that the facility was not certified to host elite matches.

“FAM will summon SULOM, as one of our affiliates, to a hearing and decide the appropriate action and this will be communicated to you as soon as possible,” Haiya warned.

Malawi FA boss faults Super League of Malawi

The Malawi FA boss faulted its affiliate for denying the directive that the 18,000-seater facility was not conductive for hosting matches.

“We can do better and as the mother body, we are taking responsibility for this. SULOM is just an affiliate which is given the rights to administer the league. But being given the rights to administer the league, does not mean that SULOM owns the power to run the league. Therefore, the power rests in FAM,” he added.

FAM has since apologised to the government, the Ministry of Sports, the sponsor, the teams and the fans for the impasse which overshadowed the kick off the FDH Premiership season on Saturday, 25 April 2026.

“This can tarnish the image of our game. This can tarnish the brand of our sponsor,” Haiya added.

How the FA and league body impasse overshadowed FDH Premiership kick off

SULOM, in collaboration with the league’s sponsor FDH Bank, had gone ahead to prepare for the match.

Wanderers and Karonga United players and officials for the sponsors showed up at the match venue. However, the match did not take place considering that there were no referees in sight.

FHD Bank has since suspended sports sponsorship in Malawi, including for the national team and the FDH Premiership due to the standoff between FAM and SULOM. FAM says the stadium failed to meet Club Licensing requirements.

Now in a statement, FDH Bank says the feud has tainted the image of its brand hence the decision to withhold the sponsorship.

“The unfortunate impasse between Super League of Malawi (SULOM) and Football Association of Malawi (FAM) undermines the commercial viability of our partnerships and negatively impacts FDH Bank Plc brand image. In respect of the above, FDD Bank has immediately suspended all sports-related sponsorships and activities pending review,” reads the statement.

On April 14, FAM announced that the Blantyre-based historic venue had not met Club Licensing requirements for hosting matches. The association said stadium owners had not addressed concerns ahead of the new season.

However, before the announcement, SULOM had already released fixtures for the entire season running from April 25, 2025, to February 2027 with some games involving Blantyre-based Wanderers, FCB Big Bullets and Ekhaya FC scheduled for Kamuzu Stadium.

In view of this, SULOM stuck to the fixtures indicating that Wanderers will host Karonga United at the same 18,000-seater facility. The capacity of the stadium was reduced from around 45,000 over 15 years ago due to its dilapidated state.

SULOM has since issued a separate statement, apologising to the commercial bank for the impasse.

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