Mutharika stops Kamuzu Stadium closure:  FA Malawi says its ‘death trap’

President Peter  Mutharika has directed that Kamuzu Stadium should continue  hosting matches and not to close.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM)  said the stadium was declared unfit due to its dilapidated state, poor sanitary conditions and, above all, the artificial turf which has outlived its life-span.

FAM said the stadium will close  unless the issues that were raised in the assessment report are addressed.

But Minister of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development Henry Mussa said on Monday that President Mutharika  has ordered that Kamuzu Stadium  “should not be closed and instead we should do repairs.”

Mussa said this in presence of Mutharika at the upper stadium in Blantyre during the commemoration of International Labour Day.

Blantyre-based giants Nyasa Big Bullets and Be Forward Wanderers—who use the stadium as their home ground— on Thursday led the clamour to force FAM to rescind its decision, questioning the timing of the move.

FAM  president Walter Nyamilandu said if they continue to use the dilapidated Kamuzu Stadium, they would  put players’ careers and fans’ lives at risk” due to the condition of the turf.”

Nyamilandu  said in a current dilapidated state, Kamuzu Stadium is “a death trap.”

The FAM boss “the consequences of continuing to host matches at the stadium have far-reaching consequences.

But Mussa said  government will remove the artificial turf and replace it with natural grass “so that within a month, matches can be played.”

He said they would also strive to “fix the structures the soonest.”

Mussa said architects will take a “fresh look” at the facility and then recommend the areas that need “urgent attention.”

He also said plans to demolish the ailing structure to pave the way for construction of a new one as pledged by President Mutharika are still in pipeline.