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| Sports |
| Caf grills Fam on change of venue |
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by
Garry Chirwa, 24 June 2004
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18:54:01
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Confederation of African Football (Caf) has asked Fam to justify the change of venue for next Saturday’s joint World Cup and Africa Nation Cup qualifier against Guinea from Chichiri Stadium in Blantyre to Civo Stadium in Lilongwe.
Explaining the situation, Fam’s general secretary Roosevelt Mpinganjira admitted on Thursday being queried by Caf after they had written the African soccer body last week on the switch of venue.
“Caf has asked us to explain why we have shifted the game to Lilongwe to which we have responded and we are now waiting to hear from them. At least by the end of the week, Caf should have communicated with us about its position,” said Mpinganjira
“The decision to have the game shifted from Blantyre to Lilongwe was made by the executive so that people in the Centre and surrounding areas should also have a chance to watch a competitive international game.
“In fact the Guinea game has swapped with the Tunisia game which initially was supposed to be played in Lilongwe but will now be played in Blantyre,” said Mpinganjira.
The Flames are scheduled to host the African champions from the Arab Maghreb region on October 9.
Quizzed on whether the association will not lose out on revenue in terms of gate collections since the capacity of Civo Stadium is smaller compared to the giant Chichiri stadium, Mpinganjira said: “That could be the case but we have to think about the fans in the Centre and North as well.
“They too would like to feast their eyes on international games, they too would love to watch the national team.”
But some soccer pundits feel Fam’s explanation on the venue switch does not hold water.
“Fam should not give weak excuses because the Tunisia game was going to be played in Lilongwe anyway. The truth is that Fam is afraid of the unpredictability of Blantyre fans following the recent 2-0 losses to Mozambique and Botswana,” said Charles Nyirenda, a soccer analyst.
The Flames left for Kamuzu Academy in Kasungu on Thursday where they will be camping in preparation for the Guinea encounter. |
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