FAM eyes flames’Overseas campa
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has unveiled plans to have the Flames to camp overseas in preparation for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals .
FAM president Walter Nyamilandu also said the association is planning for the Flames to play 10 games, including the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, before the continental showpiece.
He said the association will need maximum support to raise the K1 billion budget for the Flames assignments.
Nyamilandu said: “We did an estimation of how much the Flames will need for the Afcon finals in Cameroon and World Cup campaign.
“We need to camp overseas or West Africa before we go to Cameroon. So, there is a lot at stake.
“Most of the money is going towards air tickets, accomodation, local camping and allowances for the players.
“What we are estimating is not far from the truth. We know it’s a lot of money and we are appealing to government to increase the funding.
He also appealed to the corporate world to support the Flames.
He said: “Also as we always do we are looking at our coffers. Last time we spent K166 million to qualify. We are also going to dig deep in our coffers.
“But the gap has to be bridged. In my view that should come from the corporate world because of the Flames brand which is now attractive.”
The FAM president said the corporate world should use the success of the Flames to sell their brand.
“Everybody wants to be associated with a winning team. Everybody wants to go to Cameroon and the journey starts now.
“We will be going to the corporate world with proposals on how they can partner the Flames.”
In separate interviews, lames coach Meck Mwase and captain Limbikani Mzava applauded FAM for the move, saying if the Flames are to compete against the cream of the continent, they need thorough preparations.
Said Mwase: “We will be up against some of the giants on the continent and there is no shortcut to success.
“The team needs to camp at a high performance centre where all the facilities are available and apart from playing friendlies against professional teams, we can also benefit in terms of tactical and psychological advice from experts.”
On his part, Mzava said: “It is a brilliant idea, but what is key is to identify a suitable place where we can play against good teams and get advice from experts so that when we travel to Cameroon, we should be ready tactically, physically and psychologically to compete against the best.”
Football analyst Felix Ngamanya Sapao said FAM needs to conduct an analysis on what the team wants to benefit from the proposed overseas camping.
“But generally what you look for is a facility with everything and the place should also be where they can not struggle to arrange friendlies. They would also need to camp at a place with high attitude like Cameroon,” he said.
“If we do not have such facilities within the country, then an overseas camping would be ideal. Otherwise, it is not just a matter of camping overseas.”
