The Super League of Malawi has announced that the TNM Super League will not be played in the next three weeks due to the Covid19 pandemic.
The suspension follows a latest directive by government that public gatherings should not have more than fifty people in attendance from the initial hundred which has been effective until this week where no fans were in attendance.
According to a statement from Sulom General Secretary, Williams Banda, the numbers stated mean that it will not be feasible to host matches.
“With the new FIFA five substitute rule, players are already 20 per team (40) plus seven technical officers (14) thus the total number of teams on the pitch is already at 54. This excludes match officials, the media, paramedics, stewards and Police. It is therefore, impossible to have a match played under minimum requirements as stipulated by world football governing body FIFA. Sulom will fully safe and observe all the Covid-19 precautionary measures,” reads the statement.
The halt has come after nine rounds of fixtures have already been played.
Currently, Silver Strikers are top on the table with 19 points, on goal difference from Ekwendeni Hammers and Red Lions.
Defending champions Nyasa Big Bullets are on position eight with 12 points.
In reaction, to the news, Isaac Jomo Osman, Technical Director for Ntopwa FC said the pandemic has had a big impact on revenue generation for teams.
‘’ We are already coming from a background of having no fans. This has affected us because the traditional way of getting money is from gate collections. With the halt, it has become more worse to pay players and the technical panel’’ said Osman.
In an earlier interview with MIJ Online, Maziko Matemba, a health rights campaigner said there is need for activities like football to send a good message in terms of compliance to Covid19 measures.
So far, Malawi has registered 13027 Covid-19 cases with 321 fatalities and until now 6,080 people have recovered after receiving treatment.