Mpinganjira dares govt
Business mogul and philanthropist Thomson Mpinganjira has asked government to live up to its pledge and give the two stadiums it is constructing in Blantyre to Mighty Mukuru Wanderers and FCB Nyasa Bullets once completed.
He said this On Saturday during a Super League of Malawi (Sulom) fundraising dinner and dance at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe where he was the guest of honour.
Mpinganjira , who is Wanderers president and board chairperson, said allocating the stadia to the two teams would help shape the football commercialisation drive.
Said the business magnate in a speech monitored on Sulom Facebook page: “Constructing a stadium is not easy, lucky are the teams sponsored by government… Civo [Civil Service United], Silver [Silver Strikers], they didn’t build for themselves.
“[And] I don’t understand why they [government] are denying Bullets and Wanderers stadiums…they even want to change names, this is serious.
“Government built stadiums for Silver and Civo, why not do the same for Bullets and Wanderers which are the oldest teams [in the country]? What is football in Malawi without Bullets and Wanderers?
“They need to finish the stadiums and hand them over to Bullets and Wanderers and then commercialisation can start making sense.”
He said in the meantime, the Lali Lubani Road outfit is exploring other options.
“In the meantime, we want to see if we can get a stadium and see whatever we can do. Even if you gave us Kamuzu Stadium, we can run it and make it better than it is now,” said Mpinganjira.
But in an interview yesterday, Ministry of Youth and Sports spokesperson Macmillan Mwale said the focus now is to complete the projects.
“In terms of management model, that is an issue for another day,” he said.
The two projects have lately been referred to as Soche and Zingwangwa stadiums and the ministry insists that government cannot construct stadia for private entities.
Immediate-past president Peter Mutharika pledged that government would construct stadia for the two teams during the 2019 Tripartite Elections campaign period.
