No funds for flames
FAM says it is not certain of Flames’ participation in the 2020 Championship of African Nations (Chan) and Cosafa Cup due to financial constraints.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) general secretary (GS) Alfred Gunda yesterday said in an interview their coffers are dry, having exhausted the K300 million annual allocation from government.
“We have also exhausted our allocation from [world football governing body] Fifa,” he said.
The Flames are scheduled to face e-Swatini (formerly Swaziland) in the first leg of the Chan preliminaries on April 20 with the return leg slated for May 11.
The Cosafa Cup is slated to run from May 26 to June 8.
“We cannot commit [participation] at this point as we first have to source funding for the team’s camping, travel and allowances.
“It is tight, but we will see as we are now searching for funds,” he said.
On the budget for the two tournaments, Gunda said: “I do not have the exact figure, but it is in hundreds of million kwacha.”
The FAM GS said apart from exploring other avenues, they have also asked for extra funding from Malawi National Council of Sports.
“We submitted a request for extra funding to Sports Council, but we are yet to get a response,” he said.
However, Flames team manager James Sangala said they are not pressing the panic button yet as there are three weeks more before the Chan first leg.
“Two weeks of camping would be enough and that means during the second week of April or thereabouts,” he said.
Sports Council executive secretary George Jana was not available for comment. n
