Africa-Press – Malawi. The life span of Kamuzu Stadium’s artificial turf is under threat following deplorable juju acts which have led to vandalism of the facility, Times Sport has learnt.
This has irked Kamuzu Stadium management, which has banned supporters, who often spend a night at the venue prior to their teams’ matches. It is believed that most juju acts happen at night leading to vandalism of the facility. Kamuzu Stadium Manager Irene Mkoko confirmed banning supporters, saying that the act was retrogressive to football development.
“If this continues, the artificial turf will be damaged thereby adding more costs and burden on the government. We are calling on those that do the malpractice to stop. We have since banned supporters who come to guard the stadium a night before high-profile matches. Those people will not be entertained and will be punished accordingly,” she said.
Mkoko said they will work jointly with clubs to ensure that this is enforced. “We are writing warning letters to all the teams that use the stadium. “Recently, we uncovered and removed objects from the pitch. These objects were practically planted on the artificial turf typical of magic or juju acts and beliefs. The artificial turf is vandalised following such acts and beliefs of magic or juju,” she said
Kamuzu Stadium is mostly used by Blantyre giants Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers as their home ground. Bullets Supporters Director Stone Mwamadi denounced the acts and claimed that night guarding before high-profile matches like the Blantyre derby have no longer been taking place in recent times.
“We used to send people to spend a night at the stadium before but as the supporters body we stopped. Those were ancient days when people had juju beliefs. We have recently moved away from such things. We only focus on supporting our teams and not juju,” he said.
Wanderers Public Relations and Media Liaison Clement Stambuli quashed the allegations of tampering with the turf, saying the side was now focusing on a rebuilding exercise to become one of the most competitive clubs in the country.
“At wanderers, as a board and a team, we don’t believe in juju. As you might all be aware, we have just appointed a new technical director who is a foreigner. We are still building a team after signing high-profile players. The aim is to build a very good team and not waste time on juju beliefs. It is sad that these issues keep recurring in the country,” he said.
Recently, Wanderers President Thomson Mpinganjira bemoaned juju practice. This was after Wanderers were punished by Football Association of Malawi for allegedly doing juju-related acts when the side defeated Dedza Dynamos in the FDH Bank Cup.
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