11/07/2026
Today I went to watch the quarter-final match between Civil Sporting and Blue Eagles at Civo Stadium.
In the first leg, the game ended in a goalless draw at Bingu National Stadium, where Blue Eagles were the hosts.
In today's match, Civil Sporting were the hosts and the game ended 1-1.
As you may know, FIFA and UEFA abolished the away goals rule in 2021. In all competitions under FIFA and UEFA, if a match ends in a draw on aggregate, it proceeds to extra time of 30 minutes, 15 minutes each half, and then to penalties if necessary.
However, FAM is still using the old rule where aggregate score determines the winner when a game ends in a draw.
I was ashamed today to witness the confusion at Civo when the match officials ended the game, with different people seemingly working from different rulebooks.
Blue Eagles appeared to know what would happen if the game ended 1-1, while Civil Sporting expected the match to go to penalties.
This shows that something is wrong. Before every match, there is a pre-match technical meeting where team representatives and match officials discuss key issues, including what happens if a game ends in a draw. Yet it seemed even the match officials were not clear on the procedure.
In 2026, we should not be experiencing this. We can and must do better. How will we represent Malawi properly at the World Cup if we cannot get basic tournament rules right?
I hope the rules of this tournament have been clearly communicated to all teams to avoid a repeat of this incident.
