Malawi National Council of Sports has disclosed that they are yet to receive a budget from the Netball Association of Malawi (NAM) for the Malawi Queens’ participation at the World Cup qualifiers that start next week.

Sports Council spokesperson Edgar Ntulumbwa said in the absence of the budget, funds for the trip have not been released yet.

He said: “We are yet to receive the budget from NAM in relation to what they require. The procedure is when we get such a request, we check if we have the money available and if not, we have to write the Ministry of Sports and also Treasury. It’s a process; it’s not that money is readily available always.”

Chimwala: We wanted to consult

Ntulumbwa said NAM presented a budget of K1 billion, but the money is released as per activity on the calendar and NAM has to be specific on what they need.

NAM general secretary Isaac Chimwala admitted in an interview that they are yet to present the budget for the games.

“We wanted first to consult as an executive committee on what is required before making our submission to Sports Council. It’s not a one-person decision. That’s what has caused the delay.

“But tentatively from the breakdown, we need K80 million to take part in the qualifiers. We are grateful to Sports Council for paying the participation fee of 10 000 US dollars,” he said.

The Queens were supposed to start camp soon after arriving from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last Thursday.

Chimwala said NAM will consult Sports Council today and, depending on the outcome, the team may start camp at the weekend.

He said: “The plan is to start camp immediately, but we will know that after consulting Sport Council.”

The Queens start their game at the World Cup qualifiers against Kenya on August 21, Zambia on August 22, Eswatini on August 23 and Uganda on August 25.

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