Malawi FA puts foot down on venue for FDH Premiership opener

The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) is at loggerheads with the Super League of Malawi (SULOM) over the venue of the 2026-2027 FDH Premiership official opening match scheduled for Saturday, 25 April 2026.

The game in question involves defending champions Mighty Wanderers and Karonga United at Kamuzu Stadium in the commercial city of Blantyre.

A match marking the official opening of the 2026-2027 FDH Bank Premiership season in Malawi hangs in the balance due to venue uncertainty. Malawi FA says the game can’t take place at uncertified Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre as scheduled by the Super League of Malawi. pic.twitter.com/8tNYjPZ5Sx

— Peter Kanjere (@KanjerePeter) April 24, 2026

FAM has stopped SULOM from scheduling the FHD Premiership match between Mighty Wanderers and Karonga United at Kamuzu Stadium because it is not certified as being fit for elite games.

How issue of Kamuzu Stadium started

Last week, FAM announced that the Blantyre-based historic venue had not met Club Licensing requirements for hosting elite 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 Malawi FA is against Kamuzu Stadium

In reaction, FAM released a statement on Friday, 24th 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 might displease the sponsors, FDH Bank.

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.

List of certified match venues

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.

There is a critical shortage of match venues in Blantyre with the only option being FAM-owned Mpira Stadium whose capacity is around 10,000, hence posing a security risk for a crowd-pulling match involving Wanderers.

Overall, Malawi has Bingu National Stadium as the only 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.