Football has been recommended as a catalyst for national unity in the country.
Malawi president Dr Lazarus Chakwera said this on Thursday night at Kamuzu Palace.
Addressing the four national teams of Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia and Kenya, Chakwera said, people should appreciate the role football plays in uniting people of different backgrounds.
“Football unites people of different backgrounds to share in the happiness, joys and sorrows of our shared humanity. Football teaches us anatomy, strategy humility, integrity and generosity” he said.
Chakwera said football is also an excellent training and ground for giving everything in achieving the dreams and learning to rise from death and defeat when dreams come crashing down.
“We must not forget that words coach Thobejane, who famously said that football can kill you a real death, for these reason and more, what a nation invests in its sports is a reflection of how much value that nation places on its health, its unity, sense of identity, its youth and its place in a global village. In Malawi, we are determined to take all the posts disciplines in which we have a competitive advantage to the next level, and football is one of them”. He said.
Chakwera said football provides a powerful metaphor and model for all of life. “For we all know that to live in this world victoriously involves mastering the multiple skills of knowing the rules of life, tackling opposition to defend the values without being disqualified, playing with less players than others when you suffer fouls, taking the penalties of life with composure, avoiding the offside traps and own goals that can punish us when we lose concentration, healing our injuries and wounds to stay in the game long term and being a team player,” he said.
The four senior football teams that are camped here in our capital Lilongwe are all destined to compete in the four nations tournament.
Source:Nyasatimes
