F

ootball Association of Malawi (FAM) is facing a K804 million deficit after government allocated K180 million to national teams.

A letter from Malawi National Council of Sports signed by acting executive secretary Shephord Boma reads in part: “We are pleased to advise that following government approval of the 2023/2024 fiscal year National Budget, the Malawi National Council of Sports has approved a total of K180 million being the maximum funding you will access from government through the said council during the 2023/2024 financial year.

“Please note that the allocation has taken into account the programmes of all member associations of the council as considered against inflation and the overall budget allocation to the council by government.”

It also states that 30 percent of the allocation should go towards school development programme.

Flames participation in competition could be affected

Reacting to the allocation, which has been reduced by K40 million from last financial year’s  K220 million allocation, FAM president Walter Nyamilandu described it as a setback.

He said: “We contribute K120 million through FDH Bank plc sponsorship and K250 million through Fifa Travel Funds.

“Our total contribution of K370 million plus government funding of K126 million is giving a huge deficit of K804 million from the total priority budget of K1.3 billion.

“Part of the FDH sponsorship funds and Fifa Team Support were already used for the two back-to-back 2023 Afcon [Africa Cup of Nations] qualifiers against Egypt.

“So, our coffers have essentially been depleted. We need a minimum of K1 billion to cater for the national teams.”

Nyamilandu further said the continued trimming of allocations to the national teams is a worrying trend.

He said: “It’s basically crippling the Flames by paralysing its operations and suffocating its ability to effectively compete in international tournaments.

“It is a concern that instead of the funding increasing to match with the high cost of living and increased demand of competitions, it is drastically being reduced.  This will adversely affect performance of the national teams and kill its future.”

The FAM president said of great concern is that within two years, their funding has been reduced from K300 million to K220 million and now K180 million.

He said:  “In actual fact, for this fiscal year, the allocation for the national teams is K126 million because they have specified that 30 percent should go towards schools football.

“With such a trajectory, catching up with the rest of the world is going to be a tall order because most countries are heavily investing in football development programmes and the national teams.”

Nyamilandu said as advised by Sports Council, they will need to scale down activities of the national teams by prioritising participation in international competitions.

He said their priority budget for the national teams is K1.3 billion they require K380 million for Cosafa Cup and the remaining 2023 Afcon qualifiers against Guinea and Ethiopia.

Added Nyamilandu: “The trajectory is very worrying and not inspiring. It spells doom and gloom. It should also be noted that our priority budget doesn’t include friendly matches, but it includes the Scorchers, Under-20 and Under-17 national teams for both boys and girls and beach soccer national team activities.

“So, as it stands, it’s impossible to undertake these activities because the K126 million that has been allocated by Sports Council is not even enough for the Flames.”

On the other hand, Netball Association of Malawi has been allocated K150 million, which is K200 million less than its budget for the 2023 Netball World Cup.

NAM president Abigail Shariff was not available for comment yesterday.

But in an interview yesterday, Sports Council spokesperson Edgar Ntulumbwa defended the allocations, saying: “This is in line with what we got from government and we also provide to other associations.”

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