Fifa Pumps in K500 Million toward Nsanje Stadium
By Antony Isaiah Jr:……
The World Football Body, Fifa has pumped in USD500,000 which is equivalent to K500 Million into the construction of Stadium in Nsanje.
The Football Association of Malawi has announced the development on Tuesday saying the support is under FIFA Foundation as relief support towards communities affected by two episodes of Cyclones, Cyclone Idai in 2019 and Cyclone Ana in 2021.
FIFA sent a special mission that was led by Football legend, Yakubu Aygibeni in 2019 and Officers from the FIFA Foundation 2020 noto inspect the affected areas.
“The approval marks the successful completion of assessments that were made by FIFA that included vetting the project proposal for Disaster Relief Support in the Lower Shire.
“To this end, FAM will be engaging Nsanje District Council to co-design the stadium with the view to facilitating a competitive bidding process that will take place through a tender that will be advertised in due course.
“It is our expectation that construction of the stadium will start early next year once FAM has completed the due process of onboarding the project with FIFA,” said Gunda.
Football Association of Malawi President, Walter Nyamilandu who originally come from Nsanje, earlier said the project might take off next year.
During the launch of FAM U-14 and U-16 in Nsanje, Nyamilandu said he spotted a number of young players who are talented by they are failing to showcase their talents due to the conditions of the pitches that they use.
He said, having a stadium of good quality in the district will help to nurture the raw talents.
He said: “We have seen a lot of football grounds that are bare and dusty, mostly in rural areas. This makes it difficult for players to effectively display their skills. If we have a good facility in the district, it could be a catalyst for good and entertaining football in the Lower Shire.
Traditional Authority Ngabu, said the Shire Valley districts have football talent but poor infrastructures is a major setback and he has concurred with Nyamilandu saying that the stadium will improve the football standards in the district.
“Recently, a number of our sons were called for trials by some top clubs in Blantyre, but they failed to make the grade not because they didn’t have skills, but due to inexperience of playing on standard pitches. Once we have a modern stadium, our football will improve,” he said.
The construction of Nsanje Community Ground has started over 10 years ago but financial woes has been affecting the progress of the constructions.
