Saudi FA pays for Flames trip to Egypt

The Saudi Arabia Football Federation (Saff) has paid for the Flames return tickets to Egypt for their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) first leg qualifier against the Pharaohs this Friday.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has said they are set to save about K200 million from the gesture.

The association’s competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka said in an interview yesterday that apart from hosting the team in Medina, including air travel , the Saudi FA extended its generosity by paying for the Flames travel to Egypt and then back to Malawi.

He said: “They were obliged not to pay for our travel expenses beyond the camping, but because of the good partnership we have with them, they thought of going an extra mile and we are grateful.

“By far, we have made a huge saving with Saff hosting us on a fully-funded trip withthe  cost of air travel being absorbed by them.”

Zakazaka said FAM will only be responsible for travel costs for seven foreign-based players that will fly straight to Egypt as well as allowances.

These are Denis Chembezi, Charles Petro, Yamikani Chester, Chikoti Chirwa, Peter Banda, Frank Gabadinho Mhango and Khuda Muyaba.

He said apart from Mhango, who was set to arrive in the wee of hours today, the rest of the foreign-based players have arrived in Cairo.

During the eight-day camping, the Flames played two practice matches against Bangladesh which ended one-all before thumping nthird-tier side Al Ansar 8-0.

Last year, the Saudi FA also hosted the Flames for two weeks in preparation for the Afcon finals in Cameroon.

Meanwhile, the Flames arrived in Egypt yesterday afternoon to step up their preparations for Friday’s showdown.