Malawi football at war: Football President sues predecessor

President of the Football Association of Malawi (FAM), Fleetwood Haiya (FH), is demanding K200 million from his predecessor Walter Nyamilandu, as compensation for defamation within a period of seven days.

Haiya, through the legal firm Blackstone Chambers, has formally requested Nyamilandu to retract the “defamatory” remarks made during the Face2Face Podcast on January 15, 2026, which relate to the recent FAM elections.

The letter states in part: “In that podcast, in response to a question from the host, you [Nyamilandu] made the following statement: ‘Nditsindike pa funso lanu. Aliyense m’malawi anadziwa ndipo ankaona zomwe zinkachitika kuti sizinali zisakho. Inali coup. Coup de tat imene boma linabwera la MCP kundichotsa pa udindo chifukwa ine ndinali wa DPP. [Let me dwell on your question. Every Malawian knew and saw what was happening that it was not elections. It was coup-de-tat orchestrated by the previous MCP government because I was a DPP member.]

David Kanyenda, Nyamilandu’s lawyer, has indicated that they have received instructions from their client to respond to the “so-called demand letter.”

“In our professional opinion, the claims made by FH lack any legal foundation, and we will respond formally in due course. We will utilize our full range of legal resources and expertise to vigorously contest any legal actions that FH may pursue against our esteemed client,” he states.

“We will seek a complete dismissal of the proposed action along with costs, which we believe will surpass the amount being claimed.”

Haiya emerged victorious in the FAM elections held on December 16, 2023, defeating Nyamilandu by a margin of 23 votes to 13.