Confederation of African Football (Caf) has approved Bingu National Stadium (BNS) to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier between Malawi and Burundi next month.
This puts to rest fears that the Flames could play the Afcon qualifier on foreign soil after the facility was given a temporary approval specifically for inter-club competitions.
Malawi’s representatives in this year’s Caf Champions League, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets, will host Red Arrows from Zambia in the first leg of the first preliminary round on August 18.
On Tuesday, Caf released the list of approved stadia for Afcon qualifiers for Match day one and two.
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The matches are scheduled for next month.
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According to the statement from Caf, the match between Malawi and Burundi will take place on September 5 at BNS before the Flames face Burkina Faso away five days later.
Football Association of Malawi (Fam) Competitions and Communications Director Gomezgani Zakazaka confirmed the development Wednesday.
“We are excited that the stadium has been cleared to host the Afcon qualifiers. This is what we expected from Caf.
“Going forward, we, in conjunction with government, will make sure that the facility is in good shape,” Zakazaka said.
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Caf approved the facility after Fam sent a pre-inspection report after the continental governing body had blacklisted it from hosting international matches.
The Flames have been drawn in Group L of the Afcon qualifiers alongside 2021 winners Senegal, Burundi and Burkina Faso.
On match day three and four, Malawi will face Senegal back-to-back between October 7 and 15 this year.
Meanwhile, according to the Caf statement, Burundi has opted for BNS as their home ground for the clash against Senegal on September 9.
This comes at a time Burundi has no approved stadium for the qualifiers.
Zakazaka confirmed that Burundi had opted for BNS.
“We got a formal request from Burundi on the matter. We are now discussing the details,” he said.
Efforts to speak to the Burundi Football Association proved futile yesterday.
This means BNS will host three matches again in a space of one month.
Ministry of Youth and Sports spokesperson Macmillan Mwale recently said they had engaged the Ministry of Finance to allow them to get a certain percentage of gate revenue for the maintenance of the facility.
The facility hosted three matches in the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers in June.
BNS hosted the match between Flames and Sao Tome and Principe, which Malawi won 3-1 before hosting matches between Kenya and Burundi, which ended in a 1-1 stalemate.
Kenya also drew 0-0 with Ivory Coast at the same venue.
In 2022, Ethiopia also used BNS as their home ground for the Afcon qualifiers.
