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New national league teams say not financially ready

Majority of teams that are expected to take part in the National Division League set to kick off this season are banking on Football Association of Malawi (FAM) subvention because they have no financial capacity to meet the costs associated with participating in a national competition.

The National Division League is set to roll into action with 12 teams, including three that were relegated from the TNM Super League during the 2024 season.

To participate in new league: Ndirande Stars.

Southern Region Thumbs up League, Northern Region Simso League and Central Region Chipiku Stores League will each contribute three teams that have finished on position two to four joining three relegated teams from the TNM Super League. The relegated teams are Bangwe All Stars, Fomo FC and Baka City.

In separate interviews, Jenda United, Chintheche United, who have secured their places in the inaugural National Division League from the Northern Region, Villa FC from Mchinji, representing Central Region and Ndirande FC from Blantyre, representing the Southern Region on top of relegated sides Fomo FC and Baka City, all indicated that in the absence of FAM subvention, they cannot meet the costs associated with taking part in the national league.

Villa FC general secretary Thokozani Dzikhambani said they rely on contributions from team officials to meet the expenses of playing in the regional premier league and it will not be possible to finance the team in the national league if FAM will not provide the financial aid.

“We have difficulties to meet expenses associated with playing in the regional league. That clearly indicates that we cannot meet expenses in the national league which demand long distance travel,” he said.

Ndirande Stars FC team manager Kuluwa Ngwira said most regional teams have no sponsors and it is hard to take part in the national league.

“We operated without sponsorship and in the absence of FAM’s support, we cannot participate in the national league because we don’t have capacity to meet the expenses,” he said.

Chintheche United technical director Bright Banda and Jenda United general secretary Edward Jere also shared similar sentiments.

Already, all the three teams that were relegated from the Super League attributed their struggles to lack of resources.

Baka City FC chairperson Jembe Bantry said resources are a challenge.

Fomo FC general secretary Jimmy Maloya said although they are preparing for the league, they do not have funds for the costs.

“We are preparing to take part in the league, but in terms of finances, we are not okay. We are banking on FAM subvention,” he said.

FAM compet i t i o n s and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka said the association will provide subvention to all the teams taking part in the league.

“The actual final amount will be disclosed as we are rolling out the programme for the league,” he said.

However, soccer analyst Kelvin Moyo said subvention is not enough.

“FAM should tread carefully on the provision of subvention because I find this set-up unsustainable.

“It is important they capacitate them for long-term partnerships,” he said.

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