Mozambique: Chiquinho Conde receives honorary doctorate

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Chiquinho Conde receives honorary doctorate

4:52 CAT | 31 Oct 2025

Photo: Integrity

The national football coach, Chiquinho Conde, is from this Tuesday Doctor Honoris Causa in Sports Sciences. The ceremony granting the title was carried out by Púnguè University, in Manica, and was attended by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Caifadine Manasse, who said that the distinction was deserved, since Chiquinho Conde had, from his adolescence on, worked to elevate Mozambican sport.

Now sixty years old, Francisco Queirol Conde Júnior, better known as Chiquinho Conde, began his football career in 1986 at 21 years old, at Clube de Desportos da Maxaquene, where he was champion for three consecutive years: 1986, 1987 and 1988.

It was in 1986 that he debuted as a player for the national team, having also competed in the first African Cup of Nations (CAN) in which Mozambique participated, in Egypt.

He then moved to Portugal where he played in main clubs such as Belenenses, Sporting de Braga, Vitória de Setúbal, and Sporting Clube de Portugal, but it was in the Minho clubs where he stood out the most, although he also had some story to tell with the “lions”.

Returning to the country, Conde was coach in various first-division clubs, notably Maxaquene, Costa do Sol, União Desportiva de Songo, Desportivo de Maputo, among others, with which he won three championships, two Mozambican Cups, and two other national Super Cups.

Before taking command of the national football team, Chiquinho Conde returned to Portugal where he coached the under-23 team of Vitória de Setúbal for two seasons.

As coach of the Mambas, Chiquinho Conde tried this October to realise the collective dream of Mozambicans to reach the Football World Cup, until a 2-1 defeat by Guinea-Conakry at home ended the dream.

Looking at his achievements, Púnguè University decided, this Tuesday, to award the national football coach the title of Doctor Honoris Causa, in recognition of his contribution to Mozambican sport as a player and coach, both in Mozambique and abroad.

“By granting this title, the University not only pays tribute to a champion, but also affirms its mission to recognise knowledge that transcends the physical worlds of academia,” said Emília Nhalevilo, Rector of UniPúnguè.

Chiquinho Conde could not contain his joy and, in floods of tears, acknowledged the recognition of his career, both as a player and as a coach.

“Decades were dedicated to training young people, inspiring athletes, guiding professionals, and defending merit and ethics. Ethics, obedience to what is not mandatory. It goes beyond compliance with the laws, as it involves acting in a good, just manner and respecting the collective interest,” Conde said.

For the government, the distinction of someone who dedicated his life to sport is well deserved.

“We praise the achievements of Chiquinho Conde, a highly patriotic Mozambican, who gave of himself to sport from his birth, in the early years, until today, raising the career of Mozambican sport. Chiquinho Conde took the Mambas to levels where we could dream of reaching the World Cup. It means he had a highly brilliant career and here we must recognise UniPúnguè for having given this privilege of recognition to this great man of ours, Chiquinho Conde,” said Caifadine Manasse, Minister of Youth and Sports.

The event was attended by academics, government officials, UniPúnguè faculty and students, among others.

The degree of Doctor Honoris Causa is an honorary academic title granted to personalities who stand out in areas such as culture, science, arts, and humanity, without the requirement of a formal academic trajectory.

Source: O País