Malawi Considers Afcon Withdrawal

Malawi senior national football team, the Flames, might forgo the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations due to inadequate funding.

The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu told The Nation newspaper of Tuesday that the national team's main sponsor, government had told the association to choose between the Flames and the Under-20's participation in CAF Youth Championship.

"We have no choice but to forego the Nations Cup because government advised us to prioritise.

We have, therefore, prioritized the Under-20 for the sake of development and also the consequences would be far-reaching since we already confirmed participation in the CAF Youth Championship," Nyamilandu said.

"It is a painful decision, but as I said, there was little we could do because it was government that assured us that funding would be available for the Under-20 competition and now the tune has changed and they asked us to choose.

" Nyamilandu said they had tried to dig dipper into their pocket to fund friendly games and now the association's coffers are dry.

Sports Minister Enoch Chihana questioned the preparedness of the Flames in competitions and suggested that the issue should not be about making numbers in competitions but competing.

Malawi, the 1984 and 2010 Nations Cup finalists, lost 1-4 to Zimbabwe last Wednesday at the Kamuzu Stadium in what was the hosts first match in six months.

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