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| Sports |
| Fam needs K27m for 2006 fixtures |
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by
Leonard Sharra, 26 August 2006
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05:15:55
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Stone-broke Football Association of Malawi (Fam) has said it will need about K27 million to fulfil the remaining international fixtures involving the senior and junior national teams this year. But the National Council of Sports does not know where the money will come from.
Fam chief executive Yasin Osman said this week his association was just too broke to fund the activities and asked government and the corporate world to come to their rescue.
“Whatever we had, including the allocation from government, was exhausted on the Under-20 and Under-17 teams and we don’t have any funds. If nothing comes up from government or other well-wishers, we will have no choice but to pull out from the competitions.
“But we cannot start thinking of pulling out this time because we have reached a point of no return. The Malawi Under-17 is just one step into the finals of the African Under-17 championship. If we beat Mali, we are on our way to the finals in Togo next year.
“The Under-20 is just two steps before its destination. We have to beat Niger then eliminate Burkina Faso/Uganda/Ethiopia in the next fixture to qualify for the finals in Congo. So you can see things have reached an exciting stage,” said Kaputa.
Apart from the Under-20 and Under-17 teams assignments, the money covers the All-Africa Game match involving Malawi and Somalia Under-23 teams slated for September 30 in Blantyre as well as the African Cup of Nations first leg between Malawi’s Flames and Zimbabwe’s Warriors scheduled for October 7 or 8 at Kamuzu Stadium.
The Fam chief executive said government was aware of the requirements since his body submitted a ‘gross’ budget in January this year, which he said, was followed by a budget for each national side’s requirements.
But Sports Council executive secretary George Jana wondered where the money will come from.
“For the West African countries alone (Mali and Niger) we are talking of not less than K6 million for each trip. I don’t know where the money will come from,” wondered Jana, who only last week advised Fam to plan its activities and not depend on government all the time.
“This is what I was saying last week. Coming from a background where government has been doing everything, we have become complacent. Government recognises it has a social responsibility over its citizens but surely it should not be the government doing everything,” said Jana.
The Council executive secretary challenged that there is no government in the world that fully finances sports programmes.
“The Council was given the mandate to oversee the development of all sports disciplines but what is surprising is that almost all the financial requests we get from associations are to do with participation.
“What we don’t know is that we are always draining our forex by participating in international competitions. If we send athletes outside the country, we are helping the foreign countries to develop,” he said
Jana reiterated the need for Fam to plan its activities.
“The association must first decide what it wants to achieve and look at the resources available before committing itself. If for example, the association’s vision is focused on the 2010 World Cup, what’s the need in investing in the senior team? Will the senior team players [still] be active in 2010?” wondered Jana, apparently referring to the Flames participation in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.
Sports Minister Jaffalie Mussa could not say whether government would fund the activities or not but concurred with Osman that the games were important for Malawi.
“I can’t say outright whether we will fund the games or not. Government stresses that we should stick to our budgets and every ministry is working towards that. If government is to help, it will require serious consultations between my Ministry and others especially the Ministry of Finance.
“I understand these are important games and pulling out from tournaments will not help matters. We will just dent our reputation and our friends in the region will not take us seriously,” said Mussa.
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