Kamuzu Stadium
The Kamuzu Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Blantyre, Malawi. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 65,000[1] people, maximum for football. This can be limited for safety reasons. Big Bullets are tenants.
History
The stadium was originally named Rangeley Stadium during the colonial era to commemorate British civil servant William H. J. Rangeley.[2] It later became known as Kamuzu Stadium, after Malawi's first President, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, when Malawi gained independence from Britain. 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.[3]
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.[4]
References
- ^ http://www.africaranking.com/top-10-largest-stadiums-in-africa/2/
- ^ 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
- Illustrated BBC World Service story about an AIDS awareness event held at Kamuzu
- Photos at worldstadiums.com
15°47′56″S 35°2′4.2″E / 15.79889°S 35.034500°E
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