Silver Strikers Coach Acting Incivility Towards Media

For the sixth time after registering draws and losses in both TNM Super League and Cup games, the Silver Strikers coach, Peter De Jongh has again used non-footballing and unprofessional language towards the media.

De Jongh is now well known in the media circles for statements like “that is a stupid question” to very polite media practitioners covering matches involving his team.

Surprisingly, despite the coach and his team enjoying huge respect from the local media, the Strikers tactician has for the sixth time now insulted journalists while in his line of duty during live post-match interviews.

The most recent incident is the one in which De Jongh displayed his unprofessional conduct towards the media on Friday, 25th August after his team played out to a goalless draw against Extreme FC, where he is on record, insulting a very polite media coordinator, Sam Banda of Zodiak Broadcasting Station who despite the insult endured by exercising the highest sense of professionalism and responsibility.

While Banda has threatened not to cover any match involving Silver Strikers, another one of the country’s finest sports writers Benjamin Maona say De Jongh’s altitude is disgusting and wondered why professional bodies have chosen to remain quiet on the matter.

“By now our professional bodies needed to engage Silver Strikers management,” Maona said.

Commenting on the sad development Sports Writers Association of Malawi’s (SWAM) general Secretary Wessyslas Chirwa expressed his sadness saying he is equally disturbed with coach Pieter De Jongh’s continued display of lack of respect to journalists during press briefings.

“It has now become fashionable for De Jongh to label critical questions not of his liking as ” stupid”, examples of such situations are too many to mention with the latest being during a recent post-match interview after his team’s draw with Extreme FC,” said Chirwa.

SWAM general Secretary then appealed to Silver Strikers management to act on Peter De Jongh’s senseless rants to the media every time he holds a microphone.

“We have enjoyed an excellent relationship with Silver strikers as a club and do not want to see the same being destroyed by reckless utterances from the coach to media practitioners,” he concluded.

Efforts to seek the views from officials of the Central Bank sponsored side proved futile since they continued referring this reporter to one another in the team’s executive board.

Meanwhile, SWAM has committed to engage the Super League of Malawi (SULOM) to immediately address the situation as an urgent matter together with Friday’s physical attack on a scribe, Smart Chalika by Silver Strikers security team who were forcing him to delete the footage he captured a fracas that occurred immediately after the match when some officials wanted to beat the referees.