The Kamuzu Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Blantyre, Malawi. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 65,000[2] people. This can be limited for safety reasons. Big Bullets and Be Forward Wanderers are tenants.
 Exterior of the stadium | |
 | |
| Location | Blantyre, Malawi |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 65,000[1] |
| Surface | Act Global Artificial Turf, FIFA Certified |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1964 |
| Renovated | 1968, 2004 |
| Tenants | |
| Nyasa Big Bullets FC Mighty Wanderers FC Malawi national football team (until 2017) | |
History
editThe stadium was originally named Rangeley Stadium during the colonial era to commemorate British civil servant William H. J. Rangeley.[3] It later became known as Kamuzu Stadium, after Malawi's first President, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, when Malawi gained independence from Britain. The main stands were designed and drawn by L Jeffery and Steve Price, the works completed in 1968. After Kamuzu's presidency, the name was changed to Chichiri Stadium under President Bakili Muluzi; however, under Muluzi's successor, Bingu wa Mutharika, the name Kamuzu Stadium was restored in 2004.[4]
FIFA through its GOAL programme has sponsored the renovation of the natural grass pitch into a synthetic football pitch. This artificial turf field, called Xtreme Turf, has been manufactured and installed by Act Global.
President Peter Mutharika's inauguration ceremony was held at Kamuzu Stadium on 2 June 2014.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Installation Play-By-Play: Kamuzu Stadium". 31 May 2018.
- ^ "Installation Play-By-Play: Kamuzu Stadium". 31 May 2018.
- ^ Owen Kalinga, The Historical Dictionary of Malawi, page 411.
- ^ "Malawian president orders three facilities named after founding father Banda", BBC Monitoring International Reports, September 15, 2004.
- ^ Zawadi Chilunga, "Mutharika regrets JB's snub in power handover: Muluzi cheered" Archived 2014-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, Nyasa Times, 2 June 2014.
External links
edit- Illustrated BBC World Service story about an AIDS awareness event held at Kamuzu
- Photos at cafe.daum.net/stade
- Photos at worldstadiums.com
15°47′56″S 35°2′4.2″E / 15.79889°S 35.034500°E
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