The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has terminated the contract of Patrick Mabedi, who had been serving as head coach of the Flames for just one year of his two-year tenure.

Mabedi, appointed last year, faced mounting criticism due to the Flames' underwhelming performance in the AFCON qualifiers.

In a statement released yesterday, FAM cited the decision to part ways as "based on recommendations from the Technical Committee following the dismal performance of the Flames and subsequent failure to qualify for the Total Energies AFCON 2025."

Mabedi’s final match with the Flames was a 1-0 home defeat to Senegal, which sealed the team’s fate in their 2025 AFCON qualification journey.

FAM had set three major targets for Mabedi: securing a place in the 2025 AFCON finals, finishing in the top two for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, and reaching at least the semi-finals in the COSAFA tournament—a development platform for the senior national team. However, the Flames lost all four of their AFCON qualifying matches against Burundi, Burkina Faso, and Senegal (twice), thereby falling short of the AFCON goal.

With two remaining Group L AFCON qualifiers against Burundi and Burkina Faso, FAM plans to appoint an interim coach for these matches while searching for Mabedi’s permanent replacement.