Govt approves proposal to use Kamuzu Stadium

FAM and government have started planning on hosting the Flames next 2014 World Cup qualifiers against Namibia’s Brave Warriors and Kenya’s Harambee Stars at Kamuzu Stadium in the commercial city of Blantyre.

The development follows a recommendation that was made by the coaching panel that the Flames stand a good chance of doing well playing at the ailing giant arena other than at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu disclosed that to that effect, they had a preliminary meeting with government officials over the issue at the weekend.

“We are pursuing the matter vigorously and we are looking at what is required. To that effect, we had a preparatory meeting with officials from the ministry at the weekend. We are trying to plan in advance as we do not want to be caught off guard in the event that Fifa decides to send inspectors to assess the facility.

“We are also planning to host our next international friendly match around May 26 at Kamuzu Stadium. So, we are not leaving anything to chance,” said Nyamilandu.

FAM chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda said they have already communicated to Fifa on the intention to host the games at Kamuzu Stadium

“We wrote Fifa a couple of weeks ago and we expect them to send an envoy to inspect the facility.

“The assumption is that we do not play well at Civo compared to Kamuzu Stadium,” said Nyirenda.

“Of course, the stadium was able to host a local high-profile game between Big Bullets and Mighty Wanderers and there were no problems as the affected stands that were deemed to be in bad shape, were cordoned off, but there are other security measures that need to be implemented in order to convince Fifa,” he said.