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Flames face funding woes

 

Same old jazz. Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has admitted that it faces funding challenges ahead of the 2018 Championship of African Nations (Chan) and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers having exhausted their K32 million allocation from government for the current financial year.

FAM president Walter Nyamilandu yesterday said they are planning to ask for additional funding from government through the Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS).

Apart from the two tournaments, the Flames are also supposed to take part in the Cosafa Castle Cup which is normally held in June.

“Funding is indeed a challenge and we are lobbying  government for additional funding. But we [also] have some money that could meet the costs of one match.

FAM used part of the funding to cater for Swaziland game

“However,  apart from our partners, we are largely looking up to government and we are keeping our fingers crossed that they will come to our rescue,” he said.

But the FAM boss could not estimate how much the Flames will need between now and June as the draw for  Chan is yet to be conducted while fixtures for the 2019 Afcon qualifiers are yet to be released.

Nevertheless, Nyamilandu said FAM will meet within the week to map the way forward.

FAM used its allocation to meet costs of hosting Swaziland’s Sihlangu in the 2017 Afcon dead rubber qualifier as well as Under-17 and Under-20 Cosafa tournaments.

Sports Council executive secretary George Jana yesterday confirmed that FAM already exhausted their allocation.

And asked on the possibility of government providing additional funding, Jana said: “I would not look at it as additional funding per se, but advanced funding.

“But that would depend on the timing of submitting their proposal . They would have to do that early enough to allow for consultations with government,” he said.

Renowned soccer analyst Charles Nyirenda said FAM is justified in requesting for more funding from government “because the initial allocation was insufficient anyway.

“Without adequate funding, it means the team cannot prepare well and that would be as good as bidding farewell to Afcon 2019 even before the qualifiers commence.” n

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