Government has said there will be no extra funding for the Malawi National Football Team, the Flames for the 2026 World Cup qualifying matches against Liberia and Tunisia this month.
This comes after Football Association of Malawi (Fam) through Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) asked for K540 million for the two qualifiers as it had already exhausted its allocation in this financial year.
However, Minister of Youth and Sports Uchizi Mkandawire Friday said while the Treasury has approved the K540 million, the money will only be released after the mid-year budget review.
“We submitted the request to the Treasury. In the meantime, Sports Council and Fam have to look into the matter and discuss how they can source the resources for the two qualifiers,’’ Mkandawire said.
The development means Sports Council and Fam are facing a race against time to source funds for the team’s trip to Liberia.
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The Flames are scheduled to fly out to Liberia on Monday ahead of the match slated for this coming at Bingu National Stadium four days later. Friday before hosting Tunisia
Malawi also failed to play an international friendly match during the last international window due to lack of funds.
Recently, the Malawi Women’s National Football Team, the Scorchers, nearly pulled out of the Cosafa Women’s Championship due to a lack of funds.
But Prophet Shepherd Bushiri provided K60 million towards the team’s trip to South Africa where they won the Cosafa Cup for the first time after beating Zambia 2-1.
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On his part, Sports Council spokesperson Edgar Ntulumbwa said the matter will be addressed.
‘As Sports Council, we will look into the matter,” Ntulumbwa said.
Fam nearly withdrew the Flames from the World Cup qualifiers.
The association already exhausted its funding from the government.
Government has the responsibility to fund all national teams including football and netball. However, Fifa increased allocations to all member associations from $5 million to $6 million.
Member associations are allowed to use $1 million (about K1.7 billion) for operational costs including national team activities and domestic competitions.
