The football international governing body, FIFA has named 15 Malawian referees for the 2021 International Referees Panel.

Assistant referee Evance Msonda is the only new face on the list having replaced late Ibrahim Mafuleka who passed on in March last year while the rest have been maintained from last year’s list.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) Referees Development Officer, Maxwell Mtonga, said the referees have been maintained on the FIFA list since there were no enough activities last year to measure their performance due to Covid-19.

Mtonga said: “We are pleased that FIFA has confirmed the names of referees we recommended for the 2021 FIFA international Panel.

“They had earlier indicated that we should bring back the referees who were on the panel for 2020 because there was less activity because of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

He further said the list is the one which has been retained after they had passed the fitness test that was conducted in October last year.

Some of the notable faces in the group include Ishmael Chizinga, Bernadettar Kwimbira Nzika, and Happiness Mbandambanda.