Mkandawire inspecting the impressive Mpira Stadium
* I am impressed with what I have seen here and the overall structure and operations of FAM
* FAM is able to do business using the Mpira Village facility thereby complementing their activities, which is commendable—Minister
* We have highlighted the challenges that we face economically and what efforts can be made
* And the Minister is very committed to support us which is very encouraging to us—Nyamilandu
Maravi Express
On his familiarization tour of Mpira Village at Chiwembe in Limbe last Wednesday, newly-appointed Youth & Sports Minister Uchizi Mkandawire lauded Football Association of Malawi (FAM), saying the government considers the Beautiful Game’s governing body as a model for all sporting disciplines in the country.
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The visit is part of his familiarization tour to various sports establishments at at Mpira Village he is quoted by FAM website, www.fam.mw as saying: ”I am impressed with what I have seen here and the overall structure and operations of FAM.
“FAM is able to do business using the Mpira Village facility thereby complementing their activities, which is commendable and we consider FAM as a model for all sporting disciplines looking at how organised they are.”
The Minister is further quoted as saying as a mouthpiece for all the sports disciplines at executive level, he will use his portfolio to lobby for full government support towards football.
“There are a lot of things happening in football and as a main sponsor, I would like to assure FAM that government is always available to provide the necessary support towards its activities.
“Knowing that sometimes the government budget is limited, we will try as much as possible to lobby for more funding because we understand how important it is if our national teams are to give the desired results.”
In his remarks, FAM president Walter Nyamilandu applauded the minister for the visit, saying this a proof of his commitment towards the game.
“We are very delighted that the Minister came to visit us within a month of his appointment,” he is quoted as saying. “This shows his passion for the game and that football is indeed at his heart.
“He said that he wants help in developing the game and as a governing body, we are geared to support the government in every means possible to achieve all the aspirations.
“We have highlighted the challenges that we face economically and what efforts can be made and the Minister is very committed to support us which is very encouraging to us,” Nyamilandu told the media.
Before visiting FAM, the Minister toured Malawi National Council of Sports premises at Chichiri before inspecting the construction sites for Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Wanderers stadiums in Blantyre.
In January, Nyamilandu unveiled a comprehensive development agenda for the year 2023 and beyond taken a different budgeting approach which will see most of its resources being channeled towards technical development of the game from grassroots — through youth programmes, the regional leagues and the elite leagues for both men’s and women’s football.
The association’s vision is for the last year of the ‘Raising the Bar’ manifesto and at the unveiling ceremony, Nyamilandu said in October 2022, the FAM Finance & Administration Committee — in liaison with FAM management — kick started the process by scrutinising the development plans from different subcommittees, costing the plans and allocated resources.
He said in his report: “The Committee then presented the draft budget plan to our Member Associations and FAM Executive during a budget consultative and executive meetings in December where revisions were made followed by a provisional approval of the budget pending official approval at the Annual General meeting later in the year.”
According to his report, the new approach will see FAM investing K33 million in talent development scheme (TDS), K80 million in football for schools and that FAM will also re-introduce the Under-14 district leagues with a budget of K50 million, Under-16 (K50 million) and Under 19 (K20 million in partnership with First Capital Bank).
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National Youth Football Committee will get K10 million annual subvention; Women’s National Championship will get K50 million while K15 million has been earmarked for the introduction of the Under-14 Girls District Leagues with K50 million for the Under-16 Girls Regional Leagues.
“This will see an increase in our development programme budget from K169 million in 2022 to K328 million in 2023 ( 94% increase),” he continued. “The talent development scheme (TDS) will ensure we identity potential Under-17 football talented players to be placed in three development centres (Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu) for nurturing and grooming.
“The Under-14, 16 and 19 Leagues will ensure we establish a sustainable defined player development pathway while the Football for Schools will make football more accessible to both boys and girls and bring more kids into the game.
“All this will ensure we start producing quality future players for national teams. We will engage and build capacity of player scouting volunteers at district level to ensure we have a structured way of identifying and nurturing talent.
“We will enhance our project to broaden our scouting of talent in the rural and urban areas by increasing the sponsorship for districts league from K60 million to K90 million (50% increase) which translate to K3 million per district from K2 million.”
As one way of fulfilling its strategic intentions of making the elite league attractive — which includes empowering Super League of Malawi (SULOM) to accelerate professionalism of Malawi football and elite league value repositioning, FAM has introduced a K100 million sponsorship for the Super League.
“This is in addition to the K34 million medical aid for football players which FAM already provides. This money is over and above the League sponsorship.
“A special task force, headed by first vice-president, Justice Jabbar Alide with Chimango Munthali, SULOM president and the three Regional Associations chairpersons as Members, will come up with guidelines on how these funds should be distributed and accessed.
“Just like FAM accesses its funding from FIFA in a regulated manner, strict compliance and access control measures will be put in place for these funds so that the intended objective to develop the game is achieved.”
“Regional leagues on the other hand, have been allocated an annual K75 million subvention, to be split equally to each of the three Regional Associations Premier Leagues.
“Just like the Super League, FAM noted the need to augment the sponsorship for Regional Leagues. Our target is to improve the quality of administering the leagues and the performance of promoted teams in the Super League.”
Coaches development
In order to build the capacity for coaches, Nyamilandu added that FAM has allocated K60 million for coach education in 2023 and among the expected courses are three CAF courses — aimed at bridging the gap between the number of CAF B coaches and CAF C coaches, which will enable FAM organise CAF B courses every year going forward.
“We will also hold a customized digital coaching course for Super League coaches. Referees have been also allocated K60 million for trainings to ensure continued improvement in match officiation.”
To ensure improved infrastructure, FAM has allocated K350 million for Luwinga project phase 4 which will see the construction of two playing fields and furniture for the building to end lack of adequate infrastructure in the region.
FAM also has a commitment of US$500,000 from FIFA Foundation for the rehabilitation of the Nsanje Community Centre and in total, the association has pegged expenditure budget at K5 billion and revenue budget at K4.7 billion with FIFA Forward and Malawi government grants as major source of revenue.
FIFA is rolling out another four-year financial assistance programme to member Associations after the expiry of the forward 2.0 programme on 31st December 2022.
The new cycle of the FIFA Forward 3.0 programme will run from 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2026 and covers three strategic areas:
* Operational Funding has been increased by 25% from US$1 million to US$1.250 million per year — which translates to an increase from US$4 million to US$5 million for the 4-year period;
* While the US$650,000 is guaranteed, FAM must fulfil 10 conditions stipulated in the 3.0 regulations to access the remaining US$600,000;
* Projects Funding has been increased by 50% from USD 2 million to USD 3 million for the four-year period.
Nyamilandu said FAM is also entitled to US$250,000 and US$50,000 per annum for a period of four years covering national teams international travel costs and football equipment respectively.
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