The East Africans have now lost more players to COVID-19 ahead of their AFCON opener this week.
Six Malawian players and three members of the national team’s technical staff have tested positive for coronavirus.
The men returned positive results for the disease during a round of PCR tests on Saturday, around 48 hours before Malawi face Guinea in their Group B opener on Monday in the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Football Association of Malawi has confirmed all nine men are in isolation under the supervision of the national team’s COVID-19 medical team.
Which Malawi players tested positive?
The players that tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday were defenders Peter Cholopi, Lawrence Chaziya, Stanley Sanudi; midfielders Chikoti Chirwa and Robin Ngalande and striker Gabadinho Mhango.
All six stars will miss Malawi’s AFCON showdown with Guinea at the Kouekong Stadium in Cameroon on Monday.
The Football Association of Malawi hasn’t disclosed the names of the technical staff who returned positive results.
Mbulu and Fodya on their way back
On the bright side, Malawi were able to announce that Mark Fodya has returned a negative result. The defender previously tested positive last week at the Flames’ 10-day AFCON training camp in Saudi Arabia.
Fodya could depart for Cameroon on Sunday evening and re-join the Malawi team on Monday afternoon.
Striker Richard Mbulu, who also tested positive for COVID-19 recently, left Saudi Arabia on Saturday after returning a negative result.
Sheriff Tiraspol midfielder Charles Petro, however, will stay in the Middle East for now as he is still positive.
Flames striker Richard Mbulu has left Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for Cameroon to join the Flames squad ahead of the @TotalAfcon2021 kickoff. He will arrive on Sunday just in time for the Flames' opening match against Guinea on Monday.#AFCON2021 #TeamMalawi pic.twitter.com/WC5dTy4v20
— FA Malawi (@FaMalawi) January 8, 2022
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