FAM seeks presidential intervention on funding

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has sought President Lazarus Chakwera’s intervention on inadequate funding for national teams.

FAM president Walter Nyamilandu made the request during an interface the President had with the Flames at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Thursday to congratulate them for qualifying for 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

He said: “Your Excellency, throughout the years, funding has been our major setback. For instance, we are allocated K300 million every year, through the general sports allocation, against a budget that is in excess of K1 billion.

“Because of this, it has been difficult for us to build a well-oiled conveyor belt system for both men and women football in Malawi which would ensure that we are regular participants at international tournaments like Afcon finals.

“Your Excellency, we believe in you. We believe that you will support us to transform football in Malawi.”

The FAM president said Malawi football has suffered because of abandonment of a systematic integration and player development pathway.

“We believe we can transform football in Malawi if we change the funding strategy. One of the interventions we propose is a direct funding from the Parliament vote allocation. This would ensure that activities and programmes of the national team are undertaken without interruption.

“We submitted this proposal to Parliament two years ago. It is our hope and prayer, Mr. President, that your administration will assist us on this matter and on our plans for football development in Malawi in general,” he said

Nyamilandu said FAM has robust plans to develop the sport to ensure consistent participation in international competitions on the continent with a view to getting a shot at the World Cup in the near future.

“For us to achieve this, we need a vibrant football development system where we have vibrant player nurseries at junior levels such as Under-17 and Under-20.

“Today, we are talking about qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations. Our desire at FAM is to build on this momentum and make our participation at the Afcon finals a routine. But for us to achieve this, we need more funding.”

However, the President did not directly commit to the request, but said it is not easy to prepare.

“When we are discussing budgets, we should be open. There should be an element of investment.

“Let us court more sponsors to come on board,” he said.