Malawi have announced a bizarre plan to have a trio of coaches jointly take charge of their national team for a year before they choose the best of them to become the team boss.
But the plan is already falling apart after one of the trio announced was not interested in the unusual arrangement.
Yasine Osman, who previously served as coach of Malawi from 1985 to 1987, said he was not prepared to share the job on a part-time basis with another two candidates.
Last week, the Football Association of Malawi decided to appoint Osman along with Kinnah Phiri and John Kaputa as joint coaches.
Osman is also a former international and served as general-secretary of the association.
Phiri, one of the country’s most famous players, recently returned home after working in Swaziland. He is also coach of Bakili Bullets, who are set to qualify for the last 16 of the African Champions League this weekend.
Kaputa has been administrative manager of the Malawi side for several years but is now turned into a coach.
Malawian officials said each individual’s performance would be assessed over the next year before a decision on who would get the job full-time.
Phiri has already told local reporters he is also unhappy with the arrangement.
“I have made it very clear that I’ll only accept the appointment if I will be in charge of the team,” Phiri told The Nation newspaper at the weekend.
But football association spokesman McCollins Chibvunde said: “We want all three coaches to work as a team because that is the most important aspect.”
Malawi host Morocco, runners-up at the recent African Nations Cup finals, in Blantyre on June 5 in their opening match in group five of the African zone qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup finals.
They also have reigning African champions Tunisia, Botswana, Guinea and Kenya in their group.