Following a meeting of the FAM Executive Committee held in the country’s capital city of Lilongwe, it was decided that competing at either of the competitions was not feasible.

An approach had been made to the Malawian Government seeking permission to find a coach for the team from a foreign country.

This proposal was rejected due to the "adverse economic situation" in Malawi.

In addition to this, the financial climate was deemed to be too bad for the Government to provide funding to FAM.

During the meeting, it was also determined the FAM did not have the necessary funds to keep the team running towards the upcoming tournaments.

"FAM would like to inform the general public and all its stakeholders that it is fully aware of the negative implications including fines and suspension such withdrawal may attract," said FAM chief executive Alfred Gift Gunda.

"However, in its consideration, such withdrawal and its negative implications cannot be avoided looking at the current level of desperation that the Senior National Football team is in terms of funding and overall support."

Malawi have qualified twice for the Africa Cup of Nations, reaching the group stage of the 1984 tournament in the Ivory Coast and in 2010 when Angola were hosts.

At both, they failed to progress to the knock-out rounds.

The team has never qualified for CHAN or the FIFA World Cup.

Kenya are due to host the next CHAN tournament in 2018 and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations is scheduled to take place in Cameroon.