Basmal banks on K56m subvention for operations

The Basketball Association of Malawi (Basmal) says it is banking on government’s subvention to revive the sport which has been on the decline in recent times.

In a telephone interview from Blantyre on Thursday, Basmal president Raymond Banda admitted to The Nation that his association is struggling to carry out activities because of financial limitations.

“We have a number of programmes lined up for the growth of the sport, but we have been unable to because of financial challenges. We have submitted a budget of K36 million ($80 000) for consideration by the Malawi National Council of Sports (MNSC) and we are praying that it gets approved. It has not been easy implementing programmes because of lack of funds,” said Banda.

He said among the programmes that Basmal wants to carry out are the hosting of the national championship to identify talent for the country’s national team.

“Not only that, we have various training programmes for match officials and also youth development programmes across the country. It is a huge task that needs more funds. It is unfortunate that companies are not coming forth,” said Banda.

The Malawi national basketball team has been dormant for the past two years, a development that led to missing out on major continental and global tournaments.

The only activity has been that of the Under-23 national team which took part at the Zone VI Games.

In an interview last week, Sports Council executive director George Jana said he is yet to have a breakdown of the money allocated to various sports disciplines.

“We are yet to have the figures, but we will furnish you with figures once everything is finalised,” said Jana.

While the sport is declining in the country, neighbouring countries such as Mozambique and Angola have had their activities represented during African and global tournaments.