Football Association of Malawi (Fam) has made a u-turn on pulling the Flames out of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) and the 2018 African Nations Championship (Chan) qualifiers.
In an interview monitored on BBC Radio on Thursday night, Nyamilandu said the government had assured Fam of funding for the Flames to compete in the two continental tournaments.
Fam announced the pullout after an Executive Committee meeting held in Lilongwe on Saturday, citing lack of funds as the major reason.
The government earlier shot down the association’s proposal to hire an expatriate coach, saying there was no money.
But speaking in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, after the election of new Confederation of African Football President, Ahmad Ahmad, Nyamilandu said the government had taken keen interest in the plight of the cash-strapp.
“[The] government has taken a position to help us. We can now safely say we are still in it. We are not pulling out,” Nyamilandu said.
In 2017, Nyamilandu also made similar pronouncements.
“We have no choice but to forgo the Nations Cup because [the] government advised us to prioritise,” Nyamilandu told BBC Sport on March 12 2014.
In the latest change of heart, a meeting between Fam and the government was set for last Wednesday at Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) offices in Blantyre, but it was called off.
Sports Council Executive Secretary, George Jana, said the meeting was rescheduled due to logistical challenges, including commitments by Minister of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development, Henry Mussa.
Mussa said he wanted to appreciate Fam’s reasons for the pullout.
Fam exhausted its allocation of K38 million in the current national budget, hence it remains to be seen as to where the government will source the money, estimated at over K200 million, catering for six home qualifying matches.
Malawi are expected to play Madagascar over two legs from the weekend of April 22 in the preliminary race for the Chan finals scheduled for Kenya before embarking on the Afcon qualifiers in June against Morocco and reigning kings Cameroon plus the winner of either Comoros or Mauritius.
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