Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Patricia Wiskes says she recommends that Kamuzu Stadium should not be demolished to pave way for a new facility on the site.
She said during her familiarisation tour of sports establishments in Blantyre yesterday that the development aims to preserve history of the commercial city’s oldest football facility.
Wiskes added that it will be very expensive to demolish the stadium.
The minister has since said the erection of the 17 000-capacity BAT Stadium, which is expected to be completed by 2028, will be a solace to lack of international standard stadium in Blantyre.
“My recommendation is that Kamuzu Stadium should not be demolished but renovated for lower league matches. The BAT Stadium will be hosting elite and international matches,” she said.
The erection of the new state-of-the-art stadium in the commercial city would be a big relief for Blantyre-based TNM Super League outfits such as FCB Nyasa Bullets, Mighty Mukuru Wanderers and Mighty Tigers.
The elite football clubs heavily rely on Kamuzu Stadium, which was deemed unfit to host international matches by the world football governing body Fifa and is risky to human life.
National football team matches are also not played in the commercial city due to lack of a standard and spacious stadiums for high profile games.
According to DEC Construction Company managing director Dan Chale, whose company is erecting the K39 billion BAT Stadium alongside Donekis Construction and CAS Construction, the facility will be completed in less than three years if all the resources will be available in time.
Wiskes started her tour with Kamuzu Stadium before doing the same at the BAT Stadium, Blantyre Sports Arena, Zingwangwa Stadium and Soche Stadium.
