FAM shoots down government’s proposed Kamuzu Stadium tariffs

…says 25% is better than fixed charges…

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has turned down the newly proposed Kamuzu Stadium tariffs by the Malawi government saying the charges might hinder smaller clubs from using the facility.

On Tuesday, media reports indicated that government, through the Ministry of Sports, Youth and Man Power Development, proposed new tariffs for the stadium which was undergoing some maintenance works including the installation of the new artificial turf.

According to the document which Malawi24 is in possession of, government pegged K5 million for any cup final match involving Nyasa Big Bullets and Be Forward while K4 million will be the amount of money which the two teams will be paying to the government if it’s a Super League match.

The document further indicated that government proposed to be collecting K1.5 million from any match which will be involving Bullets or Wanderers against any other team, with K500,000 being collected from other teams in the Super League games and K1 million if it’s a cup game involving other teams apart from the two giants.

However, this proposed move has been turned down by the FA saying it’s better to maintain the current practice which sees government collecting 25% from every match played at the facility.

The association’s General Secretary Alfred Gunda told the media on Thursday morning during the stakeholders meeting organized by government through the stadium management that the move did not consider smaller teams who make less revenue during matches.

“Let’s continue with the practice we are currently having because it accommodates all our stakeholders whether big or small teams so that every club continues to play good football with a good facility,” he told the media.

On government’s reason to have the tariffs hiked as one way of ensuring transparency and accountability as well as making sure that the facility is being maintained by the users, Gunda said: “There is a cost to managing every facility and that’s where we are saying the share distribution cost management be looked into.

“Let’s continue with the 25% system because we are being mindful of smaller clubs which the value of the hire may not be any close to the revenue that can be made by the said clubs at the facility so let’s have a meeting where we can discuss these proposed developments,” he concluded.

On his part, Director of Sports in the industry Jameson Ndalama said he was happy with the response from the Indaba and promised to deliver the FA’s grievances to the authorities before opening the stadium.

“After spending millions on maintenances, we thought it wise to have a meeting first before opening the facility where we announced the newly proposed tariffs.

“However, the response we got from the key stakeholders has given us the opportunity to go back to the authorities to explain how the issue has been received and we will get back to the concerned stakeholders before opening the facility so that we map the way forward for the benefit of every party,” he said.

The stadium is expected to be opened next week upon completion of the remaining work by the contractors.