Kamuzu Stadium awaits inspection

Minister of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development Francis Kasaila has said government will wait for the world football governing body to inspect the Kamuzu Stadium and assess its fitness to start hosting matches.

Speaking in an interview with The Nation on Saturday, the minister said the rehabilitation works at the ailing facility are almost through.

“We are almost through with renovations, but it does not mean the stadium will start hosting games immediately.

“What will happen now is that we will ask FAM [Football Association of Malawi] to inform Fifa to send their experts to inspect the stadium and it is them [Fifa] who will make a determination,” Kasaila said.

FAM acting competitions manager Casper Jangale said FAM will first inspect the facility before inviting Fifa.

“There were a number of recommendations that were made by Fifa last year and we will check if government has worked on all the areas that were raised.

“If we are satisfied then we will ask Fifa to come, if not then we will ask government to work on areas that still need attention,” he said.

Among others, Fifa recommended that government should erect a players’ tunnel from the dressing room, work on toilets, drainage system and the stands.

Fifa also recommended that the capacity of the stadium should be trimmed to 14 600 from 22 000.

Last week, the ministry and the contractor agreed on July 30 as the deadline to finalise the works and hand it over to government.