The 2026 football season kick off date has drawn mixed reactions from the football fraternity as some players might suffer from burnout due to inadequate rest.
This comes after the Football Association of Malawi (Fam) Friday announced that the 2026 football season will kick off on April 18 with a charity shield match between Super League Champions Mighty Wanderers and Castel Challenge Cup champions FCB Nyasa Big Bullets at a venue yet to be announced.
Fam also announced that the FDH Bank Premiership, formerly known as TNM Super League, would kick off on April 25, 2026 and conclude on March 21, 2027.
The announcement came a day before the conclusion of the 2025 football season.
This means Bullets and Goshen City Dynamos that reached the Castel Challenge Cup final will have an off-season of less than a month.
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In an interview yesterday, Mighty Wanderers Chief Executive Officer Panganeni Ndovi said players will not have ample time to rest.
“The teams have played football for one year and the players did not have enough time. We need to consider the health of the players,” Ndovi said.
Wanderers are three weeks into the off-season having reached the Castel Challenge Cup quarterfinals in which they were knocked out by Mzuzu City Hammers.
On his part, Bullets Chief Executive Officer Albert Chigoga asked for more time to comment on the matter.
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“Allow us to reflect on this decision before reacting to it. The decision has technical significance,” Chigoga said.
Bullets and Dedza have just started their off-season having met in the Castel Challenge Cup final last week.
Dedza Dynamos General Secretary Kondwani Wiseman Banda said players needed ample time to recharge.
“It is not good for the players. We need to give them enough time to rest,” he said.
Karonga United General Secretary Ramsey Simwaka said they were happy with the kick off date of the new season.
“We need to change slowly. We cannot afford to keep the players in the off-season for four months. We will start planning for the kick off of the season,” he said.
In a statement yesterday, Fam said other competitions will kick off in accordance with the football calendar. Fam is yet to release the full football calendar.
Last season, the football season started on March 31 with a charity shield between eventual winners Silver Strikers and Wanderers at Bingu National Stadium.
Then, the league kicked off on April 5 2025 before the start of the Airtel Top 8 on April 12 2025