Malawi Football Association (FAM) President Walter Nyamilandu has insisted the national team have not pulled out of qualifying for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
This follows reports earlier in ‘The Nation Newspaper’ in which Nyamilandu was quoted stating that the FA had no funds yet government had advised the FA to decide on whether to sponsor the U-20s or the national team with the paper saying that the FA chose to prioritize the underage team withdrawing the senior team from the 2015 AFCON campaign. “We have no choice but to forgo the Nations Cup because government advised us to prioritize,” the Malawi Football Association (FAM) President Walter Nyamilandu is quoted. “We have therefore prioritized the Under-20 Championship for the sake of development – and also the consequences of pulling out of that tournament would have been far-reaching since we have already confirmed our participation.”
However, BBC Sport reports that on Wednesday, Nyamilandu denied the reports insisting the Flames have not pulled out and don’t intend to despite admitting that there is a serious funding problem. “We haven’t pulled out and we don’t intend to pull out,” Nyamilandu told BBC Sport.
“We are facing a serious problem with funding, but we are still in discussions with the Malawi government over our participation in both competitions. “We were asked by the minister to prioritise our program and choose between the Under-20s and the senior national team but it is not the case at this stage that we have opted to withdraw from the Nations Cup.
“We are hunting for a sponsor for the Malawi national team and we hope something will come out of that. We also know that the Malawi government considers the national team highly. “It would be a misnomer for Malawi to pull out of the Nations Cup – we have a very good team and stand a very good chance of qualifying. “A misunderstanding has come about because we have been asked to prioritise the teams.”
