At least 14 sports associations have not received subventions from government through Malawi National Council of Sports after failing to meet new governance guidelines, Nation on Sunday understands.
Lawn tennis, table tennis, draught, darts, cycling, handball, triathlon, basketball, volleyball,
korfball, bawo, pool, wrestling and badminton did not qualify to receive subventions.
In order to qualif y for the subvention associations are required to hold annual general meetings, submit strategic plans emphasizing grassroots development, disclose all funding sources and possess proper physical offices with staff.
The other key requirements include having a president with at least a bachelor’s degree and a secretary with a diploma as well as focusing on athlete welfare and safety.
While some of the associations are nearing compliance, 12 have not met any requirements so far, according to Sports Council spokesperson Edgar Ntulubwa.
“Others are in the process of meeting 70 percent of the requirements while 12 of the associations have zero score in the attainment sheet. It is not that they are disregarding the set guidelines, but rather they lack capacity,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ntulubwa said the council has arranged workshops starting April to further help the associations meet the guidelines.
Sports Council launched the guidelines in September 2022 to improve sports management and enhance accountability.
Part of the guidelines read: “The guidelines seek to assist national sport associations and other stakeholders to appreciate and understand standards and conduct that are respected and valued within the sport sector.
“To provide a deterrent against unacceptable behaviours and practices which may be detrimental to sport development and assist sports associations to embrace best practices in sport leadership.”
The guidelines also state that for any sport association to be recognised by the council, they must have a constitution that is in line and approved by it and with dictates of their respective international federations.
Cycling Federation of Malawi president Malumbo Kaira in an interview said they have no stable financial flow to have an office and pay salaries for staff.
“Still more, we are trying to engage partners to support us with start-up funds to have the office,” he said.
Association of Draught in Malawi president John Ngwenya said they failed to implement guidelines as set by the Sports Council.
“Much of our support to run the sport comes from individuals. Sports Council provides less than 40 percent of what we request annually for our programmes. It will be impractical to say that we have met the guidelines in absence of extra financial support,” he said.
Lawn Tennis Association of Malawi national technical director Owen Mfune said they were not given a chance to provide input
when coming up with the guidelines.
He said as such, it will be difficult for them to respond positively to the Sports Council demands.
“I am surprised that they expect us to meet the guidelines when we were not consulted when developing them,” he said.
Failure to access funding affected development of athletes as the associations did not have funds to organise tournaments or send athletes to international competitions.
National cycling champion Blessings Kumwenda said last season they only had Luwawa Cycling Race because their association did not receive funding.
Mzuzu-based draught star Levison Chifundo said lack of competitions due to failure to access subversion by the association has affected them.
“You cannot continue working hard in the sport when there are no tournaments. It is better to concentrate on something else,” he said.
