Flames to camp in Saudi Arabia
Trip fully sponsored, to save about K82.4m
The Flames will camp in oil-rich Saudi Arabia in December in preparation for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) says the Saudi Arabia Football Association will foot all expenses for a delegation of 35, estimated to cost in excess of $100 000 (about K82.4 million).
In an interview yesterday, FAM president Walter Nyamilandu said they submitted a proposal to the Saudi Arabian FA which was successful.
He said: “The Flames’ camping is just part of the partnership deal which we have struck with the Saudi Arabia Football Federation.
“All the expenses such as accommodation, travel, allowances and training facilities will be taken care of.”
Nyamilandu said the team will be accommodated at a five-star hotel and will have access to training facilities at Saudi Arabia FA’s state-of-the-art technical centre.
“Our plans are to play a series of matches against top clubs in that country before embarking on a series of friendly matches against some teams that have qualified for Afcon finals,” he said.
The FAM president said the framing of the camping duration has not yet been fixed.
“They [Saudi Arabia FA] are waiting to hear from us, otherwise we are looking at a period of between 10 to 14 days,” he said.
Nyamilandu also said the hot condition in the Middle East will help the Flames acclimatise as the weather in Cameroon will also be hot during Afcon in January.
He said: “We are extremely delighted with the partnership, which among others, will also benefit the Under-17 and Under-20 national teams.
“This breakthrough is a huge saving on our overseas camping budget which was in excess of $100 000.
“But further details relating to the MoU [memorandum of understanding] will be announced very soon.”
Flames coach Meck Mwase said he was delighted with the news.
He said: “As I said earlier, we are going to face some of the best teams in Africa at Afcon and overseas camping is vital considering high-class facilities and the strength of the teams that we are going to play against in training matches.
“Saudi Arabia is also ideal in terms of acclimatising as the weather is also hot just like Cameroon. Hopefully, we’ll have all our players available for the trip.”
Malawi, who will be making their third appearance at the African safari, are in Group B alongside Africa’s top-ranked side Senegal’s Teranga Lions, Guinea’s Sylli Nationale and Zimbabwe’s Warriors.
The tournament will run from January 9 to February 6. Twenty-four teams qualified for the African showpiece and Malawi are among the three teams from the Cosafa bloc. The others are Zimbabwe and Comoros.
