Football fans in Mzuzu are set to continue missing out on elite matches after city mayor Gift Nyirenda asserted that Mzuzu Stadium’s pitch needs enough time to recover before re-opening.
Nyirenda made the remarks in response to threats by a group of concerned football lovers in the Northern city which is pressurising Football Association of Malawi (Fam) to re-open the stadium after closing it in August due to its poor state.
The fans have threatened to cause commotion during tomorrow’s TNM Super League match between Ekwendeni Hammers and FCB Nyasa Big Bullets at Rumphi Ground if Mzuzu Stadium is not re-opened.
But Nyirenda said pitch maintenance is an exercise which requires time as it involves planting and watering of grass.
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“We started with planting of grass and we are now watering it. This is a process which needs time. If we rush to re-open the stadium, we will end up with the same situation which forced Fam to close it. So people must bear with us. I know there is pressure out there to re-open the stadium but we want to do a good job,” he said.
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Nyirenda also said Mzuzu City Council (MCC) is not ready to foot expenses for officials to travel to Mzuzu to inspect the stadium.
“We do not have the money to give them for inspection of the stadium. There is nothing of that sort in the letter that they wrote us when they banned our stadium. So we are not giving them any money for someone to come and inspect the stadium. We have done what they asked us to and what is remaining is the pitch. They did the first inspection without using our resources and they should do the same now,” he said.
In a media release publicised Thursday, Fam said it was waiting for MCC to schedule an inspection of the stadium.
“We are now waiting for the council to schedule another inspection to determine if the shortfalls have been addressed so that the facility can be re-opened. As per our Club Licencing procedures on certification of facilities, we are supposed to conduct another inspection to establish if the shortfalls have been addressed.
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“We have been in close contact with Mzuzu Stadium authorities and we have noted that they are making good progress in rehabilitating the facility. On Tuesday, 10th October 2023, we advised them to schedule another inspection and they indicated that they would advise in due course. So, as it stands, the onus is on the council to do that,” part of the release, which Fam Competitions and Communications Director Gomezgani Zakazaka signed, reads.
He said Fam followed the same process with Civo Stadium whose authorities scheduled a second inspection which eventually led to the re-opening of the facility.
Fam conducted the first inspection in July and outlined concerns such as the poor state of the pitch, unknown official authorised capacity, poor players’ tunnel, missing technical benches, poor condition of the perimeter fence, poor dressing rooms, absence of a public address system and a dilapidated scoreboard.
