Sports associations should brace for tough times ahead as Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) has told them that there will be no annual allocations this year.
Instead, MNCS will only fund activities for sports associations depending on priorities due to the resource envelope.
MNCS Chief Executive Officer Henry Kamata disclosed in an interview yesterday that sports associations will only be able to access funding for the budgeted activities which focus on development and capacity building.
“Time is up for business as usual. The money is in one basket for all the associations. We will be disbursing the money depending on the activities for the associations,’’ Kamata said.
In the 2024-25 national budget, MNCS has been allocated K4.7 billion. Out of K4.7 billion, K3.7 billion is Other Recurrent Transactions and K1 billion for BAT Ground, which is expected to be demolished, paving the way for the construction of new mini-stadium.
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Kamata admitted that K722 million is not enough to fund activities for all the associations.
He urged the associations to also find alternative ways of generating resources.
The K722 million is not even half of what Football Association of Malawi (Fam) submitted to government for national football team activities this year.
In total, Fam submitted K3.5 billion budget for national teams including the Flames, Scorchers and junior teams.
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Fam General Secretary Alfred Gunda asked for more time before commenting on the matter. MNCS met Fam leadership last week.
The Flames are expected to face Sao Tome and Principe on June 6 at Bingu National Stadium before meeting Equatorial Guinea few days later in Malabo in the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
On top of that, the Flames are expected to participate in this year’s Cosafa Cup in June and the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers later this year.
MNCS is also expected to meet other associations including Netball Association of Malawi (Nam) and Athletics Association of Malawi this week.
Nam General Secretary Isaac Chimwala said his association was keeping fingers crossed on the availability of funds.
“We will meet them soon to discuss the way forward to take the game to the next level,’’ Chimwala said.
Nam submitted a K2.1 billion budget for its activities this year.
Sports analyst George Kaudza-Masina welcomed MNCS’s idea.
“The new arrangement has its advantages and disadvantages. But the council should put a ceiling for each association depending on their needs,’’ he said.
Handball Association of Malawi, Basketball Association of Malawi and Malawi Boxing Association also rely on funding from government.
