Funding woes impede Flames
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) says without funds readily available, it is proving difficult to finalise Flames’ 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) preparatory plans.
FAM president Walter Nyamilandu was responding to a question on the progress made regarding preparations with about two months before the continental showpiece kicks off in Cameroon.
He said: “ We have lined up a number of activities for the Flames and all the undertakings are very costly and subject to availability of funds.
“Unfortunately, the funds are not readily available at the moment, making it difficult to finalise the plan of our campaign.”
He said the association is prepare for the Afcon.looking at various options to thoroughly
Said Nyamilandu: “One of the most viable options is overseas camping in Europe in partnership with a professional football club so that we can benefit from advanced training facilities and support of highly qualified technicians.
“We are also exploring an option of camping in West Africa in countries that are neighbours with Cameroon to condition the team to the climate and dietary conditions.
“Either of these options would culminate in a series of training matches with other teams that have qualified for Afcon.”
He said they are targeting at least three friendly matches involving one team from North, West and southern Africa to test the team’s readiness for the tournament.
“We are hoping that the funding situation will be clear by end November so that we can commit our plan with various service providers,” said Nyamilandu.
The Flames need about K1.5 billion to prepare and participate at the African safari.
FAM also expects to tap into the travel subsidy it gets from Fifa and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as well as sponsorship from FDH Bank plc and television rights.
So far, the resource mobilisation task force that was set up by FAM, has raised K74 million from the golf tournament that was graced by Vice-President Saulos Chilima.
The task force targeted K30 million from the event, but raised more than double the amount.
Overall, the task force is targeting to raise K400 million.
The task force chairperson Jabbar Alide, who is also FAM vice-president and High Court judge, said in an interview that they are currently in the process of rolling out the crowd funding initiative.
He said: “This is where the public will be able to donate something to the campaign through the electronic mobile and banking platforms and winning prizes in the process.
“We should have rolled this one out last week, but we had challenges in aggregating the service providers.
“We hope this will be done urgently. Otherwise, we are good to go. We are also intensifying our general campaign by asking the private and public sector to donate towards the cause.”
FAM is also also hoping that Treasury will approve a K700 million special request made by the Ministry of Youth and Sports towards the cause.
The Flames are in Group B alongside Africa’s top-ranked side Senegal’s Teranga Lions, Guinea’s Sylli Nationale and Zimbabwe’s Warriors.
The tournament will run from January 9 to February 6.
