The Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) has adopted a stringent approach towards sports associations, requiring them to disclose all sources of funding to prevent double-dipping.
This comes a few months after the council ceased providing annual grants to sports associations, opting instead to allocate funds based on priority due to budget constraints.
Sports Council Chief Executive Officer Henry Kamata recently met with various sports associations and instructed them to declare all sources of funds before requesting subventions.
In an interview Tuesday, Kamata explained that, in addition to preventing double-dipping, this measure aims to enhance the overall image of the sports sector.
He said the council will not fund programmes that are already supported by international bodies.
“We know that all the associations are affiliated with international federations and receive annual grants for specific sports development projects. To prevent double-dipping, we need to know how much they receive and how the funds are utilised,” Kamata said.
He added that associations, including the Football Association of Malawi (Fam) and the Netball Association of Malawi (Nam), will also need to disclose how they use sponsorship funds from companies.
“For a long time, some associations have used funds allocated for specific projects for other purposes without the sponsors’ approval,” Kamata said.
He is part of the Malawi delegation at the 2024 Paris Olympics in France.
Fam and Nam typically receive the largest share of subventions from MNCS.
Fam General Secretary Alfred Gunda insisted that the association has always provided audited financial reports to the council.
“As we present the budget to the council, we include Fam’s contributions from Fifa. That has always been our practice,” Gunda said in a written response.
Fam also receives annual allocations from the Confederation of African Football for operations and other projects.
Fifa permits member associations to use $1 million (approximately K2 billion) for operational costs, including national team activities and domestic competitions.
The association has set its budget at K9.4 billion for the current financial year. FDH Bank Plc sponsors the Flames to the tune of K250 million annually.
Sports analyst Parry Chinyama welcomed MNCS’s move, saying it would help associations gain the trust of the corporate world.
In addition to FDH, Fam receives sponsorship from Airtel Malawi, NBS Bank and Castel for competitions.
has submitted a K2.1 billion budget for its activities this year and also receives sponsorship from Salima Sugar Company Limited.
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