Silver Strikers head coach Pieter de Jongh has kept his promise of not ‘shutting up his mouth’ as he has accused Football Association of Malawi ofr deliberately handing FCB Nyasa Big Bullets the 2023 TNM Super League after five Silver players were named in Flames’ 30-man provisional squad that will start camping next week in readiness for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
On Thursday, Flames interim head coach Patrick Mabedi included Nickson Mwase, Mark Fodya, Chimwemwe Idana, Patrick Macheso, and Chikondi Kamanga in his squad that will assemble at Mpira Village next Monday.
But reacting to the call, the outspoken De Jongh wondered as to why the Flames coach would want the players on Monday for training outside the FIFA calendar dates.
According to the Dutchman, this is being done deliberately to hand Bullets an advantage in the title race considering that his team will play Mighty Tigers in Friday yet five of his key players will only be released on Thursday by Mabedi.
“They want five players to go into national team camp while it’s not during FIFA Calendar. How is it possible? Is this professional? I have done so well that I said I would release the players. I said to Peter that you cannot go because they didn’t consult me.
“On Monday, the players must go? Give the title to Bullets. Bullets, congratulations for winning the title,” he said.
In the Flames squad, Mabedi has also included five players from Bullets, namely Clever Mkungula, Blessings Mpokera, Alick Lungu, Frank Willard, Chawanangwa Gumbo and Lanjesi Nkhoma.
De Jongh during his press conference also took a swipe at the local media for claiming that he is not eligible to to coach the club in CAF Champions League or CAF Confederations Cup because he doesn’t have CAF Coaching License and Pro Coaching License. De Jongh has argued that he wouldn’t have coached Somalia national football team if he didn’t have those papers.
“Today, I read about CAF, wrong information. I am 85 percent to finalize my Pro License Coaching License, and I submitted everything to my CEO. I did courses in Spain, I once coached Somalia because I have the license. How is it possible to coach Somalia National team if I don’t have those papers? That’s fake news. I should have finalized this, but I was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Please remove your juice in favoring Bullets in your writings, talk about the irregularities in our football, how fixtures are arranged, and many more, not this fake news,” he ranted.
It is not known as to why De Jhong takes so much interest in Bullets affairs than the rest of the teams in the league. Currently, Bullets are the log leaders with 13 points from five games.
De Jongh won’t be on the touchline when his side takes on Dedza Dynamos on Sunday due to a suspension.
Follow us on Twitter:
