Malawi: FDH Premiership match kickoff marred by venue feud

The 2026-2027 FDH Premiership official opening game between Mighty Wanderers and Karonga United failed to take place in Malawi on Saturday, 25 April 2026.

The game was not played due to the ongoing standoff between the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) and its affiliate the Super League of Malawi (SULOM).

FAM is against SULOM’s choice of Kamuzu Stadium, saying it is unfit to host elite matches after failing to meet Club Licensing requirements.

 

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Wanderers, the defending league champions and Karonga United, turned up for the match in vain. Other games took place on Saturday.

Eventually, the Nomads released a brief statement saying: “Our FDH Bank Premiership match against Karonga United has been postponed.”

Reports indicate that there was a heated discussion among officials for FAM, SULOM and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the stadium owners who had given the greenlight to have the official game only played on Saturday to protect the interests of league sponsors, FHD Bank.

Pan-Africa Football has seen the letter from the ministry giving the nod to the game after the bank had asked for waiver to have the match played at the Blantyre facility for the sake of the launch activities.

Earlier, FAM stopped SULOM from scheduling the FHD Premiership match at the stadium because it is not certified to host games.

On April 14, FAM announced that the Blantyre-based historic venue had not met Club Licensing requirements for hosting matches. The association said stadium owners had not addressed concerns ahead of the new season.

However, before the announcement, SULOM had already released fixtures for the entire season running from April 25, 2025, to February 2027 with some games involving Blantyre-based Wanderers, FCB Big Bullets and Ekhaya FC scheduled for Kamuzu Stadium.

In view of this, SULOM stuck to the fixtures indicating that Wanderers will host Karonga United at the same 18,000-seater facility. The capacity of the stadium was reduced from around 45,000 over 15 years ago due to its dilapidated state.

Why Football Association of Malawi is against playing at Kamuzu Stadium

The FAM released a statement on Friday, 24^th April,2026, maintaining its stance that the game cannot take place at the stadium in question.

“The Football Association of Malawi wishes to inform its stakeholders and the general public that Kamuzu Stadium remains closed and is currently not approved to host elite football matches,” reads the statement.

“This follows earlier communication, after preliminary assessments indicated that the facility does not meet the required standard for hosting top-tier fixtures. In view of this, the FDH Premier League launch match between Mighty Wanderers FC and Karonga United FC, scheduled for 25 April 2026, cannot be played at Kamuzu Stadium.

FAM has since warned SULOM, which is its affiliate, against going ahead to schedule the game at the stadium.

“FAM emphasises that no matches will be authorised at the stadium until a comprehensive inspection is completed and a formal determination is made on its compliance status in line with Club Licensing requirements,” adds the statement.

“The Super League of Malawi (SULOM) and the host club have since been directed to secure an alternative venue and failure to comply with this directive shall result in disciplinary action in accordance with Articles 15,16,17 and 55 of the FAM Statutes.”

SULOM is yet to make an official statement on the issue of the venue which will likely surely displease the sponsors FDH Bank.

Shortage of match venues in Malawi for FDH Premiership fixtures

There is a critical shortage of match venues in Blantyre with the only option being FAM-owned Mpira Stadium whose is around 10,000 hence posing a security risk for a crowd pulling match involving Wanderers. Overall, Malawi only has Bingu National Stadium as the FIFA and CAF approved venue for international matches.

The Blantyre-based venue used to host FIFA World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers until around 2016 when it was condemned due to its dilapidated state. Most of its terraces were cordoned off and its capacity reduced from 18,000.

On April 14, FAM Competitions and Licensing Manager Clement Kafwafwa said they ruled out the stadium from the list of certified match venues after its owner failed to address shortcomings observed during an inspection.

“Following our first inspection, we informed stadium owners of the required standards and necessary improvements for approval. While some addressed the issues, others did not, leading to these results,” he said as quoted by Malawi FA website.

 Other venues that have failed the test are Nankhaka Stadium and Mzuzu Stadium. After inspecting 21 venues, the association approved 14 stadiums to host elite competitions for the 2026-2027 season.

The certified facilities are Chitipa Stadium, Karonga Stadium, Rumphi Stadium, Chitowe Stadium, Champion Stadium, Aubrey Dimba Stadium, Silver Stadium, Civo Stadium, Bingu National Stadium, Dedza Stadium, Mulanje Stadium, Joyce Chitsulo Stadium, Zomba Stadium and Mpira Stadium.

Meanwhile, Owen Malijani Stadium, Kasungu Stadium, Balaka Stadium and Mchinji Mini Stadium are only eligible to host second tier matches.