Football Association of Malawi (Fam) will dig deeper into its coffers for the two opening Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers as government is yet to release funds for the assignments.
The Flames are expected to host Burundi in the opening Group L Afcon qualifier at Bingu National Stadium Thursday before travelling to Bamako, Mali, for the clash against Burkina Faso.
Fam submitted a budget of K760 million to the Ministry of Youth and Sports through the Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) for the World Cup qualifiers against Sao Tome and Principe in April this year.
However, despite being approved three months ago, Fam is yet to get the money.
A well-placed source at Fam confided in Times Sport that they were still waiting for government to release the money.
“We are digging deeper into our coffers to finance national team activities. Since the start of the year, we have not received anything from government.
“If things do not change, we will have no option but to pull out of some of the competitions,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
This means Fam will be forced to look for alternative sources of funds to fulfil the two fixtures.
Fam General Secretary Alfred Gunda and Competitions and Communications Director Gomezgani Zakazaka asked for ample time to comment on the matter.
For a home match, Fam needs more than K200 million for camping and allowances for the Flames whereas for an away match it needs more than double the amount.
The national team is government’s responsibility.
In an interview Tuesday, MNCS Chief Executive Officer Henry Kamata confirmed that funds had not been released to the Flames.
“We are still waiting for the funds,” Kamata said in a brief response Tuesday.
The association pegged its national team budget at K2.4 billion for this year.
The budget caters to the Flames, the Scorchers and junior teams.
Fam also gets annual allocations from Fifa and Confederation of African Football (Caf) for operations and other projects.
Fifa also allows member associations to use $1 million (about K1.7 billion) for operational costs including national team activities and domestic competitions.
Apart from Caf and Fifa, Fam gets K250 million for the Flames per year from the team’s official sponsors, FDH Bank plc.
Meanwhile, the Flames continued preparing for the match against Burundi tomorrow.
Coach Patrick Mabedi named a 28-member squad for the Afcon qualifiers.
The Flames are expected to leave for Bamako, Mali, on Friday for the match against Burkina Faso on Tuesday.
The match will be played in Bamako after Caf banned all stadia in Burkina Faso from hosting international matches due to poor conditions.
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