Some spectators endured two hours of discomfort while watching the FDH Bank Cup final between Silver Strikers and Mighty Wanderers at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe on Sunday despite parting with K25 000 for a VIP ticket as all the seats were taken up.
In an interview yesterday, veteran journalist Thom Khanje said he was disappointed that he could not get seats for him and his family.
He said: “I went there with my family only to find that all the seats were filled. It was so frustrating. What’s the essence of having a VIP when spectators that have paid cannot access chairs?”
And posting on his Facebook Page, Khanje said: “You pay K25 000 per person, hoping as a minimum, to have a seat reserved for you. Nay, you go there you find all chairs taken and have to either sit on the terraces or stand throughout the game.
“Bola kumangolipira ya ma stand wamba [it is even better to watch the games from the open stands] because there is nothing VIP about the VIP stand, at least at BNS.”
Another fan Vanessa Chikoti, a Blantyre-based Wanderers fan, said: “Imagine I watched the entire match while standing, having driven from Blantyre earlier on.
“I don’t know how they plan, but I felt it was unfair and they could have done better. My assumption was that they produce VIP tickets in accordance with the seats, how wrong I was!”
Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, who are owners of the facility said Football Association of Malawi was responsible for logistics as organisers of the match.
The ministry’s spokesperson Macmillan Mwale said: “All the logistics are the responsibility of an event organizer, in this case FAM [Football Association of Malawi] and they are better placed to comment.
“The expectation though is that they are supposed to sell or give out complementary tickets in accordance with the space available.
“In fact, this is not the first time the issue is being raised. Not long ago, a similar issue was raised after a Flames match.”
He said they have arranged a meeting with FAM where the issue will be discussed.
“We need to find a lasting solution,” said Mwale.
FAM competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka had not responded to our questionnaire at press time.
