President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera has pledged a monetary gift to the Malawi National Football Team, currently at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, if they emerge with a desirable result from their Group B encounter with Senegal this evening and earn a spot in the Round of 16.
A statement from the Presidential Press Office says the Malawi leader has pledged to give K1 million each to all players who will feature in the match and K500,000 each to all unused subs.
According to Presidential Press Secretary, Anthony Kasunda, the President is confident that the Flames will give the nation joy tonight by qualifying to the next round.
President Chakwera has also extended his best wishes to the Flames and pleaded with all Malawians to rally around the team.
Flames, as the team is affectionately known, have three points from two games. They only need a win and a second-place finish to be assured of automatic qualification to the Round of 16. They can also qualify if they finish as one of the four best third placed teams. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will release statistics to determine these four teams at the end of all first round games.
The team has had mixed fortunes at the tournament, losing to Guinea by a goal to nil in the first match on January 10 before beating Zimbabwe 2-1 four days later.
