Malawian clubs continue to struggle in continental competitions, with Mighty Wanderers’ latest exit from the CAF Champions League highlighting the gap between the country’s teams and their more experienced opponents.

Mighty Wanderers, the Malawi champions, were eliminated by Tanzanian giants Simba SC after suffering a 7-1 aggregate defeat.

The last time a Malawian club recorded a positive result in the CAF Champions League was in 2004, when FCB Nyasa Big Bullets reached the group stage.

Bullets defeated Villa FC 2-1 on aggregate in the preliminary round before overcoming Zanaco FC 6-5 on penalties following a 1-1 draw.

In the second round, Bullets progressed past Orlando Pirates on the away-goals rule after the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate.

However, in the group stage, Bullets finished bottom after recording just one win.

Since then, Malawian clubs, including Bullets, Mighty Wanderers and Silver Strikers, have failed to reach the group stage despite their continued participation in continental competitions.

Former players weigh in

Former Malawi national team attacker Gerald Phiri Jnr has attributed the struggles partly to a lack of experience among Malawian clubs.

“Malawian teams cannot do well in the CAF competitions, it’s a waste of team resources if they do not invest heavily on quality players for CAF competitions, international games are a different ball game all together, Mighty Wanderers has one experienced player on an international level and that’s Stanley Sanudi. The rest hardly have international experience and [the] result [is] a perfect example of that,” he said.

Former player Cuthbert Sineta agreed with Phiri, saying experience and investment are important factors in competing at continental level.

“Experience is key, even at Mozambique, each team is allowed to sign 3 foreign based players. At these tournaments we need international experience,” he said.

Mighty Wanderers have only one professional player from Cameroon, with the rest of the squad comprising local players.

In contrast, Simba have more than 15 professional players, including Moussa Camara of Guinea, Djibrilla Kassali of Niger, Rushine De Reuck of South Africa, Olivier Touré of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Kanté of Senegal, Inno Jospin Loemba of DR Congo, Clatous Chama of Zambia, Neo Maema of South Africa, Naby Camara of Guinea, Libasse Gueye of Senegal, Anicet Oura of Côte d’Ivoire and Elie Mpanzu of DR Congo.