D-day for stadiums
Major stadia, including Silver, Civo and Mzuzu, risk being barred from hosting competitive matches in the forthcoming 2020/21 season if they do not meet the conditions FAM set ahead of tomorrow’s deadline.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) licencing and compliance manager Casper Jangale yesterday said that after an inspection that was jointly conducted with Super League of Malawi (Sulom) two weeks ago, stadia owners were advised to improve on some areas which were in need of urgent attention.
He said major areas included improving the conditions of the pitches and toilets, changing goal measurements to be in line with those prescribed by Fifa, erecting tunnels and installing public address systems.
“The deadline is Friday [tomorrow] and if the areas are not worked on, then they will be barred from hosting games.
He said: “For instance, at Civo Stadium, they are supposed to work on the pitch which is too bumpy and most of their toilets, which have not been functional for sometime now.
“As for Silver, we advised them to work on the sizes of their goalposts which are too short in both height and breadth. We also asked them to install a scoreboard.”
Jangale said at Mzuzu Stadium, they were advised to work on the pitch, perimeter fence as well as the goalposts.
He also said others such as Nankhaka, Karonga and Kasungu also had areas to work on such as erecting tunnels and goalposts.
“But for these ones we know that there has been progress because they have been in touch while for the others, there has been total silence. So, we only hope they have complied,” he said.
Jangale said Bingu, Kamuzu, Chiwembe and Balaka stadiums had minor issues and were not under threat of being barred.
Mzuzu Stadium owners Mzuzu City Council’s public relations manager McDonald Gondwe yesterday said they are complying to all the issues that were raised by the inspection team.
“We have applied top soil on the pitch and levelled it. We have also installed new goalposts with the required measurements.
“Our toilets that bwere vandalised, have also been renovated and our engineeering department is now working on the tunnel,” he said.
Silver chief executive officer Thoko Chimbali had not responded to our questionnaire at press time yesterday.
