The Kamuzu Stadium - The "Flame" of Malawi Football
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Reprint of feature article in recent Turf Roots IV, 2010– Courtesy of FIFA INTRODUCTION Malawi is a landlocked country in south-east Africa. The word" Malawi" is derived from the Maravi Tribe (the first indigenous tribe to settle in this region along Lake Malawi). The direct translation of the word "Malawi" is "rays of light" or "flame", which is why the national football team is known as "The Flames". Malawi was first known as British Central Africa and Nyasaland after the famous Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi). David Livingston, the famous Scottish explorer and missionary, ventured into south-east Africa from the newly discovered Rhodesia and the Victoria Falls and founded and developed the city of Blantyre. He named it after the town of his birth in South Lankarkshire, Scotland. Malawi is divided into three regions or provinces with a major city in each . In the rural Northern Region, you will find the city of Mzuzu, which is close to the border with Tanzania. In the Central Region lies the city of Lilongwe, which is the political capital, and in the Southern Region is the city of Blantyre, which is the largest and most commercial city of Malawi. Malawi is among the world's least developed and most densely populated countries. The economy is heavily based upon agriculture, with a largely rural population. The Malawian government depends heavily on outside aid to meet their development needs, although these needs (and the aid offered) have decreased since 2000. The Malawian government faces challenges in developing the economy, improving education, health care and environmental protection, and becoming financially independent. Malawi has several programmes that have been developed since 2005 to focus on these issues, and the country's future prospects appear to be improving, with advancements in economic growth, education and health care in both 2007 and 2008. The Kamuzu Stadium is situated in Blantyre and is named after the first president, Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda, following Malawi's independence from the British in 1964. This newly renovated football turf stadium was rebuilt in 2007 and has had a tremendous impact on the development of the game of football in Malawi and the development of the Malawian nation. The population of Malawi is presently approximately 14 million people with football and netball as the national sporting codes. Football in Malawi has one professional/semi-professional league, which stretches over all the regions in Malawi. All leagues below this national league are regionally based with a premier league, a first division and an under-20 league in every region. Junior football is organised through the school football structure. The newly laid football turf at the Kamuzu Stadium is home to eight professional teams in Malawi and is seen by many Malawians as their beacon of light in international football. RATIONALE Structured interviews were held with various football stakeholders in Blantyre to determine the attitudes towards and their perceptions of the new football turf at the Kamuzu Stadium. The stakeholders who were interviewed included football administrators, players, referees, medical doctors, managers of professional teams, national coaches, Blantyre city officials and council members, the media and football spectators. The Kamuzu Stadium is presently the home pitch for all "Malawi Flames" national football teams including the national women's football team. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS These extreme climatic conditions make it difficult for football to be played and practiced during these months as the climate is not conducive for grass to grow for sports pitches. In the past, local and international matches had to be abandoned or postponed and waterlogged pitches made it difficult for the Football Association of Malawi to complete their local professional and semi-professional leagues. Before the Kamuzu Stadium was fitted out with football turf as part of the "Win in Africa with Africa" initiative in 2007, Malawi found it extremely difficult to meet their commitments in FIFA and CAF football competitions. In the past, the extreme heat did not allow the grass to grow, resulting in hard and bumpy football pitches. The harsh climatic conditions impacted on the development of the game in Malawi and on the performance of Malawi as a country in world football. POSITIVE IMPACT When interviewed, Malawian football administrators, players, referees and spectators unanimously agreed that the new Kamuzu Stadium had definitely had a positive impact on all of them. They stated that the green pitch all year round had created a psychological feeling of wanting to play. This has had an impact on player development as the quality of the pitch psychologically brings out the best in players. A coach of one of the most famous teams, Eskom Football Club, commented that: "I am on the pitch before my players before training, just to have the feel of a proper pitch as I did not have the opportunity to express my talents in such a way when I was a player." All stakeholders, when interviewed, agreed that the general appearance of the pitch has enhanced the fans' experience of watching games and has given the game of football in Malawi a more professional image. There has been an improvement in the players' technique and the game seems faster. One coach commented that his players had a more positive attitude when playing on the surface at the Kamuzu Stadium. Players seem to enjoy the game more on the smooth football surface than when they play away from home on an uneven, bumpy natural grass surface. A few players from teams from Blantyre commented that they did not look forward to playing away from home as they had to travel long distances by road to the Northern Region and still had to perform to their best on undulated and hard grass fields. The players from the Central and Northern regions felt that they were at a disadvantage because the teams in Blantyre, who had access to the football turf, were more technically developed. Quote: TECHNIQUE Coaches, players and spectators all agreed that the players' technique was much better on the Kamuzu Stadium surface than on the natural grass pitches in Malawi. Players find it easier to control and pass the ball on the football turf pitch than on natural grass pitches. Players have complained that the natural grass pitches in Malawi were hard and in most cases uneven, which made it difficult to control and pass the ball. The referees who were interviewed from the Malawi referees association commented on how well the game flowed and said that they too were more enthusiastic to be part of the game on a football turf surface than on a grass field. The referees further commented that the markings on the football turf do not fade and are clear to both referees and players, which makes it easier to handle the game, especially when the ball is out of play. The clear markings allow the referees to see an infringement from a distance, unlike on natural grass pitches on which the markings fade and make it difficult to judge when the ball is out of play or whether they were right in awarding a penalty when a player is fouled in the penalty area. One coach commented that the players' enhanced technique will lead to more of them receiving lucrative football contracts with foreign teams. The national under-17 coach of Malawi, John Kaputa, who has coached all of Malawi's national teams from junior level up to senior level, commented that the current young players are developing their football technique much faster on the football turf pitch than those who had played in previous national teams and had not had the opportunity to play and train on a football turf pitch. FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT Coaches, administrators and players agreed that the new football turf at the Kamuzu Stadium has led to the field being used more for youth development. Schools are encouraged to use the pitch when the professional teams are not training . John Kaputa, the most renowned and qualified coach in Malawi, commented that he had had many requests from rural schools and teams to play against his "Young Flames". These teams had asked to play the national U-17 team on the football turf pitch and not on a grass field . Teams now travel long distances to play the young national heroes at the Kamuzu Stadium. This has helped to fill the huge youth football development vacuum that existed before Malawian football had a football turf pitch SUCCESS STORIES Ever since the new football turf pitch was laid in Blantyre, Malawi have lost only one national team game played at home. Malawi have beaten African champions Egypt at the Kamuzu Stadium (1-0) and they recently scared African football giants Cote d'lvoire when they held them to a 1-1 draw after leading until the final 15 minutes. Interviews conducted with Malawian players, eight of whom play in the second division in South Africa, after their game against Cote d'lvoire revealed that they put their success down to the Kamuzu Stadium where they felt more comfortable in displaying their talent than anywhere else on the African continent. The biggest success story of Malawian football is the national U-17 team. For the first time in the history of Malawian football, a national team has qualified for a world championship. Victor Nangwale, the team's goalkeeper, commented: "This is a dream come true for most of us young Malawian players, qualifying for the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria in October and November 2009. We have been drawn in the same group as Spain, who have won in the past, but we have an advantage over them of playing and training on football turf and we will be playing on football turf in Nigeria." For more information regarding FIFA's Football Turf testing standards please visit the FIFA website. |