National Women’s Football Association (NWFA) chairperson Adelaide Migogo says the 2023 regional women’s football leagues were “too competitive” with players showing great character to play professional football outside the country.
Speaking in an interview with MBC, Migogo said Malawian football women have great motivators in the name of Tabitha and Temwa Chawinga who inspire them to reach greater heights.
Tabitha, who is the captain for Malawi National Women’s Football Team, plays as a forward for Division 1 Féminine club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) while her sister, Temwa plays at a Chinese side Wuhan Jianghan University. Tabitha joined PSG on loan from Wuhan Jianghan.
“We had a stiff competition which is good to us. You know, these guys, they’re all looking up to Temwa and Tabitha, so that’s what makes the competition more stiff because everyone wants to be like one of those girls. We’ve got a lot of players, very talented players,” said Migogo.
The NWFA President also observed that Ntopwa Super Queens FC’s participation at this year’s CAF Women’s Champions League/COSAFA Qualifiers in South Africa did not only raise the country’s women’s football profile but also ardent interest in International tournaments.
She said her wish now is to see Malawi sending at least two teams to compete at such tournaments which help expose players to foreign teams.
“We need to start sending two or three teams so that we can be learning from others. When we go abroad, we learn a lot of things from other teams.
“So, we want other team owners even the government to be helping us to be entering competitions outside Malawi, including the COSAFA region,” said Migogo.
She also urged corporate entities to largely support women’s football by partnering with clubs and bankrolling tournaments for players’ betterment.
“We want to have a more successful 2024 season. We’ve got minimum sponsors, and we’ve got less competition. We need more partners and more competitions, the more we participate the more competition goes high,” she said.
Meanwhile, the top three teams from each region have qualified for the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) National Women’s Championship to be staged early year.
The fourth-placed teams will battle in the playoffs to decide the 10th team that will participate in the national championship.
Ntopwa Super Queens won the title in the Southern Region with MDF Lioness and Moyale Sisters emerging winners in the Central and Northern Regions, respectively.
Regional winners will receive K4 million each from K2 million whereas runners-up will pocket K1.5 million from K1 million each.
FAM increased sponsorship for the women’s national football championship to K79 million from K60 million.
“The raising of the sponsorship and prize money made the competition more competitive and exciting. We really appreciate the support from FAM and we look forward to having a more competitive and success season in 2024,” she added.