Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has committed to complete construction of a dedicated beach soccer stadium in Lilongwe by March this year. The project aims to provide a permanent home for the sport at the association’s land adjacent to Bingu National Stadium in the capital city. FAM president Fleetwood Haiya announced the timeline when he handed over K83 million in sponsorship to the Beach Soccer Association (BSA) to support the national league.
The current status is that it is in the implementation stage with plans focused on establishing a desert pitch soon,” he said. Haiya said the stadium will also help the national beach soccer team to prepare for the 2026 CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers scheduled for July. “This construction is part of a broader transformation agenda to professionalise beach soccer, which has enjoyed success in recent times with Malawi qualifying for the Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations in 2022 and 2024,” he said.
Sunbird Nkopola Beach Soccer team manager Frank Ntsinje hailed FAM for the project, saying when the lake swells, games are suspended and this affects the players following as they are forced to wait for the water to dry up. “Swelling of the lake means no games at all. I am happy that authorities have thought of a lasting solution such as having alternative pitches upland,” he said.
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BSA president Force Ngwira thanked FAM for the project and pledged that the association will continue working tirelessly to uphold national pride. “We were supposed to have alternative venues upland so that when the lake has swelled as it was the case during 2023-2024 season, we can still have league games so that the calendar is not affected,” he said.
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