Following their questionable treatment in the ongoing African Cup of Nations tournament, the head coach of the Malawi national football team,Mario Marinica has accused the Confederation of African Football (CAF) of bias and mistreatment against smaller teams.
The Romanian tactician spoke in support of the Gambian football team who had alleged that bigger African teams were being given preferential treatments at the expense of the perceived smaller teams.
"You wouldn’t see Sadio Mane wash his own underwear and hang them on a bush to dry,” Marinica told ESPN. “The Gambia have the same problem, and there are different standards here, teams are treated differently.
“We talk about inclusion, we want to have minnows, small teams that do fantastic things, but when it comes to the last stages people don’t like that we play against Cape Verde and not Senegal play in morocco [for example].
"Some questions need to be asked; why are these things happening to us, why only to small teams, why only to Comoros, to Gambia, to us?”
He further alleged that laundry services are provided for bigger teams while smaller teams are to wash their wears by themselves.
" I have asked my colleagues and team leaders to file a formal complaint,” he added. “I complained to the managers of the estate, and at present [hotel] we struggled for three days before things were settled.
“Couldn’t get milk for coffee they said milk was out till tomorrow. We are treated like second class citizens but if you are a hotel manager and you see this happening , you take charge, you can’t afford it these days, at this level of competition.
“We’ve stayed at the same facilities before and I was shocked, we didn’t have enough food, there were complaints about the food, but we stuck together, worked hard, stayed strong and we we’ll come out of this with flying colors.”
The coach was also critical of the quality of meal they are served as well as the measures put in place to control the spread of COVID-19 among the players. He alleged that his players as well as those of the Malawi national football team did vomit before or after matches as a result of the quality of meal they are given. He went further to talk about the referees in the tournament, alleging that they also favour the bigger teams.
"Honesty on the pitch is important,” he concluded. “The referee in the last game played a huge role in our draw with Senegal, where we had a clean penalty, the player was pushed, pulled and the referee gave nothing".
“Later, the referee gave an offside when he should have played the advantage, it’s like we are second-class citizens.”
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A player, John Banda also supported the allegations made by the coach by stating:
Our clothes haven’t been washed, it’s true, and we’re having issues,” he told ESPN. “It’s a shame that we are taken for outsiders.
“As Africa, we must be treated the same as Senegal, Nigeria, all equally. It’s a competition, no team is guaranteed to win it, and we all need equal and fair treatment.”
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