Flames abandon Chiwembe ground

Friday, February 10th, 2012 | Post By

BLANTYRE (Times)-The Football Association of Malawi (Fam) reacted swiftly to Flames coach Kinnah Phiri’s ultimatum to stop Flames training at a substandard Chiwembe Technical and Development Centre pitch.

Fam said there was no transport for the Flames, who are preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations tie against Chad, to be commuting to Kamuzu Stadium for training.

Kinnah had threatened to call off the camp on Friday if the situation remained unresolved.

The coach said the condition of the pitch had an adverse effect on the players’ fitness, who were sustaining knocks.

However, Fam, with assistance from the Malawi National Council of Sport, bought fuel and provided the bus to ferry the players from Chiwembe to Kamuzu Stadium.

Both Fam and Kinnah confirmed the development.

The Flames mentor said it was important for the players to stay fit by training at a proper pitch.

“Of course, players can sustain injuries on a good pitch but it is not good to (risk) train at substandard pitch,” he said.

“Although I missed the early part of training because of a funeral, fellow members of the technical panel reported to me that they were losing two if not three players each day due to knocks suffered because of the poor pitch.”

Fam chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda said they were working hard to normalise the conditions.

“The coach should be cautious with how he is handling the issue. We are trying everything possible so that conditions should improve. Today [Thursday] we have managed to send the team to Kamuzu Stadium,” he said.