Lack of venues affecting fixtures—Sulom

Sulom has admitted that lack of adequate venues is affecting Super League fixtures leading to abrupt changes.

Super League of Malawi (Sulom) general secretary Williams Banda was reacting to concerns raised by some teams over eleventh hour fixture changes.

Sulom was forced to shift Saturday’s game between Mighty Wanderers and Azam Tigers to Balaka from Nchalo.

Tigers general secretary Geoff Kachale said: “The trend to change fixtures is somehow getting out of hand whereby a week hardly passes without either a venue or the actual fixture being changed.

“The development affects stakeholders, in particular the clubs, in terms of planning.”

However, Banda said the problem is not of their making.

“The problem is that we do not own venues, likewise most of our teams.

“So, we are bound by what the stadia owners decide at that particular time,” said Banda.

The Sulom GS said ground owners tend to let out their facilities after fixtures have already been released, citing the Nomads versus Tigers game as an example.

He also said apart from Nchalo, other venues that were also booked for other functions at the weekend were Mzuzu and Silver stadiums.

“So, the issue of venues is proving to be a big challenge,” he said.

Asked what would be the solution , Banda said: “It is up to the stadium owners to bear with us. Otherwise, it should also give teams some food for thought that perhaps it is time they gradually embarked on constructing their own stadiums.”

Out of the 15 top-flight league teams, only three—Civo United, Silver Strikers and Blue Eagles—own grounds.