The government has promised to increase funding towards sports activities in the country.
Director of Sports in the Ministry of Youth and Sports Jameson Ndalama made the remarks after Team Malawi returned home through Kamuzu International Airport in Blantyre on Monday.
Team Malawi returned with 32 medals at the just-ended African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Youth Games held in Windhoek, Namibia.
Ndalama said following the success at the Region 5 Youth Games, the government was motivated to invest more resources in all sporting codes.
“We are now reaping the fruits of our investments. We will continue investing in the youth and sports so that we sustain what we have achieved at the Region 5 Youth Games,” Ndalama said.
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Team Malawi got seven gold medals, 12 silver and 13 bronze medals.
But in 2022, when the country hosted the event in Lilongwe, Malawi got 37 medals.
Ndalama said following the outstanding performance of Team Malawi, it would be easy to convince the authorities to increase funding towards sports.
“We will continue lobbying the authorities to invest more resources in all sporting codes. It is a gradual process; we increased funding to football and netball this year,” he said.
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Football Association of Malawi (Fam) got K1.5 billion for the Flames and Scorchers’ assignments.
On the other hand, Netball Association of Malawi (Nam) got K1 billion for its activities this year.
Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) Chief Executive Officer Henry Kamata said Team Malawi performed beyond everyone’s expectations.
“The performance of Team Malawi has been phenomenal. Malawi has shocked everybody with the performance. We have come back victorious and we will continue,” Kamata said.
Kamata said for Malawi to perform well, they had a series of camps in the build-up to the Games.
Team Malawi captain Chris Millie, speaking on behalf of fellow athletes, said the team had thorough preparations.
“We prepared well for the Games. Going forward, we need to have more competitions to expose our athletes,” he said.
Special Olympics got six medals in total—two gold, four silver and two bronze—whereas E-Sport got four medals—two gold and two silver.
Paralympics got five medals –one gold, two silver and two bronze.
In addition, the Malawi Men’s Under-20 Boys team got a silver medal, having lost 3-0 to eventual winners South Africa.
