Cheap ticket for Malawi/Ghana game at $3

FAM has announced that the cheapest entry ticket for Saturday’s 2013 Afcon decisive qualifier between Malawi’s Flames and Ghana’s Black Stars will be K1 000 (about $3.3) for open stands.

The game is scheduled for Civo Stadium in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda also said a seat in the comfort of the VIP enclosure will cost K10 000 (about $33) while fans will have to part with K5 000 (about $17) to get the glimpse of the action from covered stands.

Nyirenda defended the move, saying the decisive showdown is likely to attract a massive crowd from across Malawi and that the standards of living have gone up.

Some fans recently protested the K1 000 open stands gate charges for the Standard Bank Cup semi-final match between Big Bullets and Mighty Wanderers at Silver Stadium and there were some empty spaces.

“We believe the gate charges are very reasonable considering that this will be an international game. We also have to bear in mind the importance of the match since it will be a decisive qualifier.

“Being an international game, fans are most likely to come from across the country to watch this game.

“The other thing is that we’ll have to pay other stakeholders such as security personnel, ambulance and fire brigade from the proceeds of the match,” said Nyirenda.

Lilongwe-based fans Austin Kasito and Kim Kamau described the gate charges as reasonable.

Said Kasito: “My personal view is that the gate charges are fair considering that this is an international game and there will be people coming from outside Lilongwe to watch the game.

“Although our team is down, the match has also generated a lot of excitement because it has been a long time since Lilongwe hosted a Flames high-profile match.”

On his part, Kamau said: “Considering the importance of the match, I think K1 000 for open stands is fairly reasonable unlike the local games.

“Ghana is also a continental giant and therefore a lot of people are likely to come to watch big-name players such as [Andre] ‘Dede’ Ayew and Asamoah Gyan.”

However, FAM said they had not come up with any projection on the revenue.

Meanwhile, the Flames relocated to the capital on Sunday and were expected to start training at match venue yesterday.

However, the FAM CEO could not be drawn to comment whether government has now released the K28 million needed to host the match.