CAF blacklists Bingu National Stadium
FCB Nyasa Bullets will play their CAF Champions League preliminary round qualifiers outside the country after Confederation of African Football (CAF) classified Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe not fit to host matches under its jurisdiction.
According to the Iist of stadiums approved by CAF On Friday, the facility did not meet the requirements set by the continental football governing body.
The blacklisting of the facility follows Ministry of Youth and Sports’ failure to renovate the areas CAF pointed out when it granted a provisional approval to host international matches on condition that shortfalls, including substandard technical area seats, security/perimeter fence on the other side which compromises revenue collection on match days, should be worked on.
But a year down the line, the ministry has only replaced the condemned seats, which were attracting a fine of $5 250 for every Flames match since January 2023.
A statement from CAF states that the list of approved stadiums start swith the forthcoming CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round matches scheduled for next month.
The statement reads in part: “This list is specific for the first and second preliminary round of the CAF inter-club 2024/25.
“The final list of approved stadiums for the indicated match days may be updated, subject to the CAF stadium inspection procedure in place.”
The development will affect Bullets who are expected to host Red Arrows of Zambia in a 2024 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League next month.
Bullets acting chief executive officer Albert Chigoga was not available for comment.
Apart from Bullets, failure to renovate the facility before September will also affect Malawi National Football the Flames’ 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers as Malawi will have to play their home matches outside the country.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) competitions and communications director Gomezgani Zakazaka confirmed the blacklisting in an interview on Friday.
He said: “We just got the communication from CAF.”
Ministry of Youth and Sports spokesperson Macmillan Mwale on Friday said he was not aware of the CAF decision.
Bullets acting chief executive officer Albert Chigoga confirmed being notified on the development by FAM.
He said: “We got communication from FAM on the issue. We are still trying to get more information on the reasons behind the decision, considering that recently, the venue hosted 2026 World Cup qualifiers which are of higher level than inter-club matches.
