Flames drawn against Kenya

 The Flames have been drawn against Kenya while Zambia will face Zimbabwe in the Four Nations Tournament on March 23 at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM), hosts of the 

mini tournament, yesterday said winners will clash in the final while the losers will face off in a third-place play-off on March 26.

In an interview yesterday, the association’s competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka said there will also be similar fixtures for the Under-20 teams to be played on March 21 and 24 at the same venue.

Meanwhile, FAM general secretary Alfred Gunda has said the association plans to unveil a sponsor for the tournament this morning.

He said the four participating associations are expected to share costs of the tournament.

Said Gunda: “Each of the four FAs will be responsible for their teams’ expenses. This means they will pay for their  air tickets, accommodation and allowances.”

“We agreed to do this because we wanted to cut the costs for hosting the tournament. It would have been very expensive if we were to meet all the expenses.”

In total, 210 people are expected to jet into the country for the tournament with each participating team bringing a delegation of 70, 35 each from the senior team and the Under-20.

However, according to Zakazaka, apart from camp and air tickets for foreign-based players, as hosts, FAM will also foot all match organisation =-related costs.

He said: “These include ticketing, security, match officials, paramedics and match venues.

“We will use broadcast rights and gate revenue to pay for these expenses. We are also trying to get sponsors on board.”

Football analyst Charles Nyirenda said the arrangement is best suited for FAM as it has minimised costs.

He said: “Hosting a tournament is not a joke. It requires resources. Luckily, the four FAs came to this agreement which works very well. It’s like scratch my back I will scratch yours.”

Nyirenda said as a country, Malawi also stands to benefit from hosting the tournament since each team is expected to bring a delegation of 70, 35 for seniors and 35 for Under-20.

All the four teams want to use the tournament to prepare for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers which resume in June.

Zimbabwe are in Group C alongside South Africa, Rwanda, Nigeria, Lesotho and Benin while Kenya are in Group F alongside Ivory Coast, Gabon, Burundi, Gambia and Seychelles.

Zambia are pooled in Group E which also has Morocco, Niger, Tanzania, Congo and Eritrea.

Malawi, on the other hand, are in Group H alongside Tunisia, Liberia, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia and Sao Tome.

The Flames started their campaign with 1-0 victory over Liberia in Monrovia, but lost by the same scoreline to Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles at Bingu National Stadium.