Football: Madagascar: New scandal over equipments

Accustomed to repeated scandals since the election of Alfred Randriamanampisoa, between places purchases in the U17 selection, finances in distress and getting down on the field to physically fight in the local championship, Malagasy football has experienced a particularly humiliating international truce.

Forced to cancel the scheduled friendly against Uganda due to health and public health conditions, the federation still had a match against Morocco on 2 June. Problem, the official outfits had not arrived on time at the beginning of the gathering, forcing the players to improvise for practice.


Fake jerseys and adhesive tape

Having arrived only the day before the match, the equipment did not at all meet the needs of the national team. Forced to train with old outfits or personal clothes, the selection had the unpleasant surprise to find that many new jerseys were not the right size.

Too small or tight, the jerseys did not match the players. In the face of urgency, the staff sent the national team to warm up with the green polo shirts – those used for bus transport – by patching the blue training jerseys with adhesive tape to make them look like match clothes.

Worse still, some jerseys did not have the Madagascar flock on the back while the parade outfits were unmarked. Internally, some understood that these were fake Umbro replicas.

A president who distorts the truth

Largely dominated by Morocco (4-0), the Barea ended the meeting and this international truce in misunderstanding about the explanations put forward by the president of the federation. «We couldn’t wear the red jersey, the color chosen by the host team, and neither could green, because it’s the color of their shorts. We had to offer the blue parade jersey whose printing of the numbers was done just before the match in the stadium itself.”

Settling with the facts, Alfred Randriamanampisoa tried to keep face after another embarrassing experience for the national team. Disillusioned, several players privately regret the lack of organization and amateurism plaguing a federation that is sinking further each month.