Bingu Stadium to have team
Bingu National Stadium (BNS) management has ambitious plans of forming a football club—BNS II—that will target TNM Super League promotion within three years.
Stadium manager Eric Ning’ang’a said they were drafting a proposal to submit to the Ministry of Labour, Youth, Sports and Culture on the formation of the team.
He said: “This facility was constructed with the aim of developing sports in the country. It’s not only hosting of matches that this facility can contribute to the development of sports. Having a football club is another way of doing it.
“The stadium is not supposed to be idle. Having a football club will also mean that the facility will be active all the time as it hosts matches for BNS II, there as generating revenue.”
For the plans to materialise, BNS will have to brace for a financial nightmare since even established clubs are struggling due to inadequate funding.
Most clubs spend more than what they earn from the league.
Last season Nyasa Big Bullets earned K42.657 million from gate collections but spent over K100 million.
But Ning’ang’a said they had already started discussing with potential sponsors on the formation of the team.
“There are a number of people that are interested in seeing a team having its home here at BNS, and we believe with proper planning this is possible,” he said.
But Ning’ang’a said they would have to start from scratch and would not poach players from other clubs.
“Ideally, the plan is to have a football academy at the stadium. Players from the academy would then graduate to play in the senior team. We are not trying to compete with anyone, so we want to do things right,” he said.
Promotion to the Super League is through regional leagues, but BNS can earn a place in the elite league if they buy a franchise from a team that is already in the league.
Asked if they are ready to go through the process of earning promotion to the Super League Ning’ang’a said: “It does not matter if we have to start from the lower division, but our ambition is that within three years the team should be in the Super League. Once we are there, we do not want the shame of getting relegated like other government-sponsored teams.”
Meanwhile, director of sports in the Ministry of Labour, Youth, Sports and Culture, Jameson Ndalama, said they were waiting for a strategic plan from the stadium management.
“They are mandated to manage the stadium, if that is their plan, fine. We have asked them to submit their strategic plan. I guess they will include such plans in it. So we will wait until they submit it before commenting,” he said.
Super League of Malawi (Sulom) general secretary Williams Banda said they welcome any team as long as TNM Super League rules and regulations on joining the league are followed.
BNS was officially opened last month with a match between Malawi and Chinese club Guangzhou FC which ended 2-2.
