The Mandate of the Malawi National Council of Sports is to develop, promote and regulate all forms of sport in Malawi. As one way to achieve this, MNCS introduced the Malawi Sport Awards (MSA) in 2017.

The main aim of the MSA is to recognise, celebrate and reward meritorious, outstanding achievements and contributions made by athletes, coaches, officials, teams, and organizations in the development and promotion of sports in Malawi.

The Malawi Sports Awards seek to achieve the following objectives:

• To reward excellence encouraging athletes and sports professionals to continue striving for greatness at national, regional, and international levels.
• To celebrate sportsmanship promoting ethical behaviour, fair play, integrity and discipline.
• To acknowledge the contributions of those working behind the scenes, including coaches, administrators, referees, and volunteers, who support the development and success of sports in Malawi.
• To foster national pride by recognizing Malawians who excel in international sports competitions and represent the country with distinction.
• To highlight the role of sports in youth and community development, encouraging participation in sports as a means of promoting health, social inclusion, and unity.

The Malawi Sports Awards program is built on four key strategic pillars, ensuring that it not only celebrates achievements but also upholds the values and vision of sport development in Malawi.

1. Excellence: Celebrates athletes, coaches, teams, and organizations that have demonstrated exceptional performance at national, regional, and international levels.
2. Glamour: The awards gala will be a prestigious annual event associated with glitz and glamour symbolizing the importance of sport to national identity and pride.
3. Credibility: Winners will be determined based on merit using a clearly defined criteria through a rigorous and transparent process which will be conducted by a qualified and experienced independent panel of adjudicators / judges carefully appointed by the Malawi National Council of Sports. The process and results will be validated by independent auditors.
4. National Pride: The awards ceremony and trophies will embody symbols that represent Malawian culture and identity, making each award distinctive and reflective of national pride.

The Malawi Sports Awards will honour achievements across a broad spectrum of categories, designed to recognize athletic performance, technical and administrative contributions to the development of sports.

The following are categories to be included in the Malawi Sports Awards:

• Junior Male sportsperson of the Year (up to age of 20)
• Junior Female Sportsperson of the Year (up to age of 20)
• National Team of the Year
• Sports Association of the year
• Best Executed sport development program of the Year
• Sports Man of the Year
• Sports Woman of the Year
• Sports Man with of the Year disability
• Sports Woman of the Year with disability
• Coach of the Year
• Sports Administrator of the year
• Sports Journalist of the Year – Print
• Sports Journalist of the Year - Electronic
• Sports Personality of the Year

The Malawi Sport Awards Gala will be an annual event celebrating the country’s sporting achievements. The gala will feature the announcement of winners in all categories, speeches from notable sports figures and entertainment performances. The ceremony serves as a platform to honour the nominees and celebrate their contributions to sports development in Malawi.

The 2024 Malawi Sport Awards gala will take place on Friday 28th February 2025 at Sunbird Nkopola, along the shores of lake Malawi in Mangochi under the theme, Celebrating Sporting Excellence.

The MSA gala is positioned as a red-carpet, black-tie event with glitz and glamour to be attended by Senior Executives and captains of industry. The event will be spiced by live performances from Malawi’s renowned and celebrated artists, and will be broadcast live on major national television and radio channels and digital media platforms.