BY WISDOM NGWIRA
Northern Region Football Association (NRFA) has complained of scarcity of standard football stadiums in the north, saying the development was retarding growth of the game.
Currently, the region has Mzuzu Stadium only, which is in a dilapidated form,and a community ground in Karonga while Rumphi Community Ground is not certified fit to host elite football games.
In an interview, NRFA, General Secretary, Masiya Nyasulu said it was sad that the region has no any standard football stadium compared to central and southern regions.
“We are not satisfied with the number of stadiums here in the northern region. As an association that runs football here in the region are worried with this.
We are currently having only the Mzuzu Stadium and Karonga Ground the whole of the northern region which are too small to accommodate the number of games played here,” he said.
Nyasulu added that, “We would have loved if for example Mzuzu City had a big stadium ready to host international matches and at least a stadium in all the districts in the region so that we promote growth of the game in the region.
He said lack of decent stadiums in the region has affected performance of teams that get promoted into topflight league as they end up finding very strange sporting infrastructure in the league.
“For example,premier league teams are highly affected because these are teams that are used to playing in substandard pitches and when they earn promotion into the league,they find it extremely difficult,” the general Secretary said.
He asked the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) to start spreading projects they once started constructing like the Luwinga Technical Centre.
Recently, FAM President Walter Nyamilandu hinted that FAM plans to construct some stadiums which will be funded by world football governing body FIFA.
He said after successfully implementing the Mpira Stadium project at Chiwembe in Blantyre, there is a possibility for FIFA to give FAM other funds for construction of more stadiums and that the northern region would be a priority.
