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Sports Council has accused Fam of dilly-dallying in taking up the issue of Flames’ need for extra funding with government.
The Council’s boss George Jana said on Thursday that instead of promptly approaching government through his office on the way forward, the association is busy giving juicy interviews on the issue to the press.
“Having exhausted their allocation we would have expected Fam to present their case to us promptly because the process of getting extra funding from government is rather complicated.
“Surprisingly they are busy giving interviews on the issue to the press. The don’t seem to know that they are against time,” said the Council boss.
He also said Council will only present Fam’s plea if the financially cleaned out association explains the efforts it is making on its own to address the situation.
“They should tell us what they have done, what they have raised and the extent of the problem they are sitting on and if we are convinced, then we will present it to government for consideration,” said Jana.
He added: “I spoke to Fam general secretary [Roosvelt Mpinganjira] on the issue two days ago and I told him that government recognises the problem but what is needed is for it (govt) to know the extent.
“Government has bailed out Fam before by giving it millions of kwachas to settle debts and it can assist the association now but there is need for Fam to come up with a detailed case.”
Jana also disclosed that Fam was advised not to enter the World Cup/Africa Nations Cup due to inadequate funding.
“When the budget had just been released we advised Fam not to join the competition because of insufficient funding but they were adamant but I am not sure if it would help for them to pull out now because there are hefty penalties,” said Jana.
According to Regulations of the 2006, Fifa World Cup, the Flames risk a fine of about K4 million ($37,037) and might not participate in the 2010 World Cup.
But Fam president Walter Nyamilandu said the association has already started the process of taking up the matter with government.
“Our plan now is to meet president Bingu wa Mutharika to ask for his intervention but we cannot communicate directly. We have to go through Council who in turn will inform the minister of sports.
“As at now we are looking for funding for the away game against Morocco as well as for preparations of the Cosafa Castle Cup match against Lesotho,” explained Nyamilandu.
Nyamilandu said Fam is not worried with the other games against Botswana, Guinea and Kenya because they have been covered in the next budget which starts in July, so there should be a solution.
Quizzed on what the association is doing to ensure sustainability of the Flames, Nyamilandu said: “We are trying to make Fam to be self-sustainable and we are also trying to find a sponsor for the Flames but at the moment it is difficult because our primary objective is to find sponsorship for national competitions such as the Super League.”
Nyamilandu also bemoaned the suggestion from other quarters to pull out from the world’s biggest showcase saying the remaining fixtures can be used as build-up matches for 2010 World Cup.
“If we are looking at 2010 World Cup then preparations must start now and the ideal stage for preparations would be the remaining games because our upcoming players will be exposed.
“Let us try to do things that will help us in the long run. If we pull out when are our players going to get the exposure?” he said.
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