There is a major dispute over whether Temwa Chawinga will be allowed to join the Malawi National Team ahead of the Four Nations FIFA Series Tournament in Kenya, scheduled from April 11 to 15.
The Scorchers will face Australia on 11 April, with the winner advancing to the final to play either Kenya or India four days later. The losing teams from the semifinals will compete in the third-place playoff.
Malawi’s Lovemore Fazili included Temwa, who recently returned from injury, in his 35-member provisional squad. However, her club, Kansas City Current, believes the player should fully recover before joining the Scorchers.
A source told BolaNews that last week, Kansas City Current wrote to the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) stating that, despite Temwa playing 40 minutes against NJ/NY Gotham FC over the weekend, she should not join the national team as the club is still monitoring her fitness.
FAM Rejects Kansas City Request
Chawinga sustained a right upper leg (adductor) injury on October 19 last year against Houston Dash, causing her to miss league matches, including Malawi’s crucial WAFCON qualification fixtures against Angola.
But a source said FAM has rejected the club’s request and asked them to release the player.
“FAM wrote to the club on Monday protesting their stand and asked them to release the player,” the source said.
FAM further explained that they want Temwa to be assessed by their medical team:
“We believe it is important for Temwa to join the upcoming national team training camp. She has been out of the national setup for nearly a year, and this camp presents a critical opportunity to reintegrate her into the environment.
“Her presence will allow our medical team to closely assess and align on her physical management in preparation for WAFCON.”
Temwa was not available for comment on the matter.
Kansas coach Chris Armas expressed caution over Chawinga’s return. “We have to be really intelligent with how we bring her back in the right doses into training,” he was quoted as saying by ESPN.
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