Minister orders Kamuzu Stadium assessment
Ray of hope.
Minister of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development Henry Mussa has ordered Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) to carry out an assessment of the dilapidated Kamuzu Stadium to determine whether it is fit to host local games in the forthcoming season.
The development comes in the wake of concerns raised by Blantyre-based clubs that closure of the facility would negatively increase their financial costs.
“I [recently] directed the Sports Council that there be a technical assessment regarding its [stadium’s] fitness to host games and to date, I am still waiting to hear from the council.
“If it will be certified fit, then surely by all means, we will continue to use it for now until funds for the construction of a new facility are identified, but if it will be certified unfit, then I am afraid we will have to proceed with the plans to close it,” he said.
Mussa recently directed that the facility would not host matches due to its dilapidated state.
MNCS executive secretary George Jana and the ministry spokesperson Symon Mbvundula said the assessment process is already underway.
Said Jana: “The assessment is in progress and we will make recommendations by end of next week.”
Meanwhile, the stadium is still operational despite the minister’s directive and last weekend, it hosted two pre-season friendly matches between Be Forward Wanderers and Silver Strikers.
But the facility’s manager Ambirike Mwaungulu defended the move, saying they were still waiting for formal communication from the ministry regarding the closure.
“The normal procedure is that the ministry directorate is supposed to formally communicate to us.
“But up to now we have not received that communication. So, I take it that it [the stadium] is still operational,” he said.
“However, hosting pre-season games does not mean that the stadium will be available for games this coming season. All we are waiting for is the formal communication.”
But Mbvundula said the ministry’s position is that the stadium remains closed unless there will be a new development after the assessment.
Last year, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu also ruled out competitive matches in the coming season because the artificial turf has outlived its life-span and was an injury risk to players.
However, Blantyre-based clubs said closing the stadium would greatly affect them as they would be forced to play outside the city.
“Closure of the stadium would affect us financially as that would mean playing our games outside Blantyre. In fact, there is no stadium in the Southern Region that has the capacity to host the Blantyre derby and it would mean travelling to Lilongwe,” said Nyasa Big Bullets chairperson Noel Lipipa.
