Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, owners of Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, have said they cannot commit if the facility will be ready to host the FDH Premiership launch this Saturday.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) last week announced the barring of the facility alongside Mzuzu Stadium and Nankhaka Stadium in Lilongwe from hosting elite matches for failing to meet the required standards.
Kamuzu Stadium is also expected to host the league’s opening match between champions Mighty Wanderers and Karonga United.
But with four days before the launch of the 2026/27 flagship league edition, the ministry’s spokesperson Macmillan Mwale said: “Work is in progress alongside other stakeholders, but I cannot guarantee that it will be ready by Saturday.
the launch. | Courtesy of Sulom
“What I can say is that we are working to meet the concerns that were raised [by FAM] and once we are through, we will inform them accordingly to carry out the inspection as regards the timeline, that I cannot say.”
He also said the stadium management has been sourcing quotations for the works which have to be submitted to the ministry for approval.
“But in future, there should be much collaboration with relevant stakeholders by FAM on such matters,” said Mwale.
But Super League of Malawi (Sulom) general secretary Williams Banda yesterday expressed optimism that the facility will be ready to host the event.
He said: “There is very good progress at the facility. Currently welders are working on the technical benches while the issue of water supply at the VIP and other areas, including sanitation, have already been worked on.
“FAM will be inspecting it soon and the launch will be held at Kamuzu Stadium.”
He, however, faulted the football governing body on the planning of the inspection exercise.
Said Banda: “Going forward, stakeholders should work jointly on matters of inspection to ensure ownership and time management.
“They [FAM] need to realise that licensing is a process of trying to improve the game and not fault-finding, as such, they need to plan properly.”
He also said there need for the stadium manager to be on top of things.
“The manager needs to be in control of things. For instance, in the issue of benches, she should have acted on that long time back. You will find that people enter the facility through the open stands anytime they want which leads to cases of vandalism and, therefore, under such circumstances, even the security guatds need to be taken to task,” he said.
FAM operations director Gomezgani Zakazaka could not be reached for comment yesterday.
