FAM changestune on World Cup participation
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has changed tune on its intention to withdraw from the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The draw for the African qualifiers is set for tomorrow in Ivory Coast and FAM president Walter Nyamilandu has said they will not withdraw from the tournament.
This comes barely two weeks after he announced that they were seriously considering withdrawing from the competition.
In an interview yesterday, Nyamilandu said: “We will participate in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and seek support from the Ministry of Youth and Sports through the Malawi National Council of Sports.
“As much as we are facing financial constraints, it will be a missed opportunity if we don’t give it a real go.”
On his part, Minister of Youth and Sports Uchizi Mkandawire said he has asked the ministry’s director of sports to take up the matter with FAM and Sports Council “so that I understand the position and see how we can map the way forward”.
He said: “The tricky part is that when Sports Council is presenting its budget, it does not specify the activities, they just present it in blanket form.
“It could have been better if they were specific because it is easy to prioritise activities.”
Last month, FAM said it was considering withdrawing from World Cup qualifiers after exhausting its funding for the 2023/24 financial year.
Nyamilandu said they submitted a K1.3 billion budget to cater for national teams’ assignments in this financial year, but Sports Council trimmed the budget to K120 million.
He said they exhausted the K120 million from Sports Council, the FDH Bank plc’s K120 million sponsorship and the K250 million Fifa travel grant towards the Flames’ 2023 Afcon campaign.
Nyamilandu said they had to get a loan for the Flames to fulfil the recent 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ethiopia in Mozambique.
However, Malawi National Council of Sports accused the association of rushing to the media before exhausting negotiations for extra funding.
Sports Council spokesperson Edgar Ntulumbwa was quoted by The Nation as having said: “We find it strange that FAM is going to the extent of taking this matter to the media. I don’t remember a time when the national football team failed to participate in a competition due to lack of funds.”
