Balaka offers Nomads reprieve
Mighty Wanderers have disclosed that they are playing their home matches in Balaka to ease pressure on the players after a string of poor results.
The Nomads’ chairperson George Chamangwana was responding to a question on why the team has been travelling a distance of 125 kilometres outside their Blantyre base to fulfil home fixtures in Balaka instead of using Kamuzu Stadium which they registered as their home ground.
After suffering four consecutive league losses that culminated into their 2-0 loss to their arch-rivals Big Bullets, the Nomads switched to Balaka where they have won three consecutive games against Chikwawa United (twice) and Epac.
“There is nothing to hide, after a string of poor results that relegated us to the bottom of the Super League table for a while, we thought it wise to shift base for a while so as to ease the pressure on the players.
“We thought the players needed a change of environment, but we will soon return to Kamuzu Stadium,” said Chamangwana.
He also admitted that the trips to Balaka have cost implications but for the sake of ensuring that they get results, they have to sacrifice.
“Obviously, everything that has to do with travel has cost-implications, but looking at the situation in which we were, we had no choice,” he said.
However, the Nomads boss could not ascertain how much they are spending in terms of travel expenses. But the club’s general secretary Mike Butao said they spend in the range of between K200 000 (US$487) and K250 000 (US$608) per game.
“Apart from the team, we also have to meet fuel expenses for the technical panel, team leader and supporters’ representatives,” said Butao.
The team’s main supporters committee chairperson, Dinesi Chitsulo, said the decision to switch base has also affected the team’s fans, some of which cannot afford to follow the team to Balaka.
“There are others who dig deep into their pockets and follow the team to Balaka.
“So, yes, some supporters have been complaining, but our appeal to them is that they should bear with us because this is just a temporal arrangement and their beloved team will be returning to Kamuzu Stadium soon,” said Chitsulo.
The Nomads host Mafco this afternoon at their ‘adopted’ home ground in a Carlsberg Cup quarter-final match and on Monday they will face Moyale in a league match at the same venue.
