The Ministry of Youth and Sports has disclosed that a total of 239 seats were broken during the ferocious incident that happened during the 2023 Airtel Top 8 opener between Mighty Mukuru Wanderers and Silver Strikers on Saturday.
This was disclosed Tuesday when Minister of Youth and Sports Uchizi Mkandawire inspected the facility, three days after the fracas.
There were reports that only 70 seats were damaged during the incident.
According to the ministry, the number of damaged seats has reached 239 after a proper assessment done from Sunday to Tuesday.
After inspecting the facility, Mkandawire described the incident as barbaric.
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“What happened on Saturday is very detrimental to progress of football in the country. We are very worried with the incident and we are very sad this happened,” Mkandawire said.
The minister has urged Malawi Police Service to arrest the culprits.
“We hope that police and all the concerned parties will make sure that the people that are involved in the incident should be taken to task because this is a criminal offence. We believe that justice will be done,” Mkandawire said.
However, the minister said the value of the chairs will be released at a later date after getting quotations from various suppliers.
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BNS Manager Ambilike Mwaungulu told the delegation that the seats are expensive and cannot be reused once they have been damaged.
The ministry also released a statement on Monday condemning the incident.
Football Association of Malawi (Fam) also released a statement on Monday on the matter.
After the incident, Fam also announced that the result of the match had been withheld.
Sports analyst Parry Chinyama said despite questionable officiation, the supporters overreacted.
“We understand that football is a game of emotions but the supporters took the matter into their hands,” Chinyama said.
The fracas was triggered after referee Godfrey Nkhakananga awarded Silver a controversial goal in the 92nd minute.
The Fifa grade one referee had blown the whistle for a free-kick to Silver but play did not stop until striker Stain Davie struck the ball into the net.
Wanderers players and technical panel members protested and refused to continue with play until the match was abandoned. Silver scored the first goal through George Chaomba but Gaddie Chirwa pulled Wanderers level.
