Ministry gives in on Kamuzu Stadium assessment

The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture has given in to the Football Association of Malawi’s (FAM) demand to conduct a structural assessment of Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.

The facility is currently barred from hosting elite matches by FAM’ after failing to meet standard requirements.

In an interview yesterday, the ministry’s spokesperson Macmillan Mwale said while the stadium’s management has worked on all other areas that were raised by FAM, “it is crucial that the structural assessment should also be carried out”.

He said: “We do not want to leave anything to chance. So, having completed the other works, we have now asked engineers from the DoB [Department of Buildings] to conduct the assessment.

“The exercise will be done within the shortest time possible and we are looking at either this week or next week.”

Mwale said the outcome of the assessment will determine the way forward.

“We do not want to be blamed that we overlooked certain areas,” he said.

Apart from structural assessment, FAM listed five other areas that needed to be worked on, including vandalised and stolen toilet seats in the open stands, sub-standard and damaged substitute benches, broken toilet facilities in the dressing rooms  and a non-functional scoreboard.

In April this year, FAM barred the stadium from hosting elite matches, a development that led to the postponement of the FDH Bank Premiership launch on April 25 as a result of an impasse between FAM and Super League of Malawi.

FDH Bank plc reacted by suspending sponsorships amounting to K7.5 billion the following day. The suspension was lifted a fortnight later.

The latest development comes amid concerns raised by Blantyre-based giants, Mighty Wanderers and FCB Nyasa Bullets that the closure of the facility is affecting their gate revenue.

In an interview last week, Wanderers director responsible for finance, administration and audit Mervis Mangulenje said: “A comparison of revenues collected this season with those generated at Kamuzu Stadium last season indicates an overall decline. Although two fixtures recorded marginal increases, these were driven solely by deliberate ticket price adjustments necessitated by the smaller capacities of the alternative venue namely Mpira Stadium [in Blantyre] and Zomba Stadium.

On his part, Bullets acting chief executive officer Albert Chigoga said: “It has affected us significantly because the buying power is not favourable to majority of fans who usually patronise football matches.

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