Lunda emphasizes that the funds generated through gate fees are but a pittance and is not enough . He goes further to say that even prize monies in cup competitions are meager and unable to supplement the cash flow problem .
Blantyre based Football teams which contributes most of the players for the national team have been struggling acutely to financially support their teams following the shutdown of the country ’ s National Football Stadium ( Kamuzu Stadium ) due to safety concerns .
Some of the Kamuzu Stadium ’ s terraces had developed cracks and worse still the artificial turf , which was installed on the pitch , had worn out and outlived its lifespan making the stadium an extremely hazardous place to play in .
In 2017 the Government promised that the stadium would be rehabilitated but this promise did not come to pass . However , there is a ray of light on the horizon that an artificial turf surface had been procured and will be duly installed .
Nyasa Big Bullets the country ’ s crowd pulling Football Giants and their sworn rivals Be Forward Wanderers Football Club have both suffered the most from the closure of the Kamuzu Stadium . The two Say " I do " al fresco ! Read to find out if this setting is for you .
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Football Giants were using the country ’ s oldest Stadium as their home ground .
Bullets official , Albert Chigoga says his team had to dig deep in its pocket to travel to other towns to fulfill its fixtures and worse still the stadiums of towns like Balaka and Mulanje were too small to cater for the team ’ s fans who follows them everywhere in droves . “ The stadiums are small , making it difficult for us to generate much revenue through gate collections ,” observes Chigoga .
His views were echoed by Chulu Mkangama of Be Forward Wanderers Football Club , who also lamented that the scenario had eaten up into their financial reserves .
However it is not all gloom and doom for Malawi Football and the nations sports fraternity , because the Government has promised to construct another ultramodern stadium in the commercial city of Blantyre . The proposed stadium will rival the Bingu National Stadium in the capital city , Lilongwe which was constructed with funding from the Chinese government . Furthermore , the government through a Local Development Fund ( LDF ) has constructed some mini stadiums in some district and towns in the country .
Tiya Somba Banda , An official for Super League of Malawi ( SULOM ), the elite Football League Governing body believes that these districts stadiums will boost the game of Football and revenue collection nationally .
“ Concentration of playing in the cities of Blantyre , Lilongwe and Mzuzu has hindered the growth of the game in the country and especially so its revenue as its the same audience every week which I believe affects the spending habits of the local population in these cities . But now with new stadiums in the districts that will help a lot in growing match day revenue , “ he observes .
Meanwhile it remains to be seen if these new Stadiums will be a cure for Malawi ’ s ailing sporting fortunes . However looking at what had recently befallen Bingu National Stadium which had water and power disconnected for non payment of Bills , it can be safely said that the country has a long way to go .
The Management of Bingu stadium told local media that they were not given enough funds to maintain the facility . They claimed that all the money that the facility generates goes straight into a government account . So the amount the treasury doles out for running the stadium are enough to pay the utility Bills .
Meanwhile , negotiations are underway to let the government outsource ( privatize the Management of the Stadium ).
Observers argue that if corrective measures are not taken to resolve all the woes that plagues Malawi sports fraternity standards will continue to stay in the bottom .
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