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.

Kamuzu Stadium
Exterior of the stadium
Map
LocationBlantyre, Malawi
Capacity65,000[1]
SurfaceAct Global Artificial Turf, FIFA Certified
Construction
Opened1964
Renovated1968, 2004
Tenants
Nyasa Big Bullets FC
Mighty Wanderers FC
Malawi national football team (until 2017)

History

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The 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

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References

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  1. ^ "Installation Play-By-Play: Kamuzu Stadium". 31 May 2018.
  2. ^ "Installation Play-By-Play: Kamuzu Stadium". 31 May 2018.
  3. ^ Owen Kalinga, The Historical Dictionary of Malawi, page 411.
  4. ^ "Malawian president orders three facilities named after founding father Banda", BBC Monitoring International Reports, September 15, 2004.
  5. ^ 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.
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15°47′56″S 35°2′4.2″E / 15.79889°S 35.034500°E / -15.79889; 35.034500