Football Association of Malawi (FAM) annual expenditure on executive committee members operations has risen to K54.3 million from K33.2 million in two years, representing a 63 percent increase, financial reports have shown.
According to the documents, every year FAM spends on transport and accommodation for its 11-member executive committee.
In the 2017, the financial reports prepared by auditing firm AMG Global showed that the soccer governing body spent slightly above K33 million on the executive committee.
Last year, the expenditure was K49.2 million before hitting K54.3 million in the year ending June 2019.
FAM general secretary Alfred Gunda defended the expenditure rise, saying in the past two years the executive has been meeting frequently.
“The executive has been having meetings regularly; thus every quarter, as stipulated in the statutes unlike the previous years. These meetings have been rotated from city to city,” he said.
Gunda also said that over the period, FAM adjusted the executive members’ allowances to meet the rising cost of living.
“The cost of transport and accommodation has been revised against the rising cost of fuel against which travel is calculated and accommodation as well was revised to reflect reasonable hotel costs for the executive committee,” he said.
The FAM GS also attributed the increase to holding the executive meetings alongside heads of affiliate associations.
“Worth noting also is that in the period consultative meetings with heads of affiliates were held alongside executive meetings and the costs were amalgamated.
“In the period, the inclusion of FAM directors has increased the number of members attending executive committee meetings,” he pointed out.
Football analyst George Chiusiwa urged FAM to reduce meetings and save some money for national team activities.
However, former FAM general secretary George Kaudza-Masina described the rise as normal, taking into account the country’s economic trends. “If you look at the increase over the years, you will note that it has been in line with the inflation rate,” he said.
