Football Association of Malawi says it expects the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to certify that Bingu National Stadium (BNS) in Lilongwe as fit to host continental club tournaments this weekend.

CAF Stadium facilities inspector Ivan Lengwe Mumba from Zambia inspected the facility on Thursday ahead of the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifers which begin in June.

Mumba (L) gets a brief during the inspecton

A post on FAM Facebook page on Thursday stated that the inspector concentrated on areas such as the state of the pitch, dressing rooms as well as media and medical facilities.

“Mumba is expected to submit his report to CAF tonight [on Thursday] and the continental football governing body will make its final decision this weekend,” reads part of the post.

Mumba also inspected Nankhaka and Silver stadiums which are designated as training venues.

“Later in the evening, he will go back to BNS to check the condition of floodlights,” the report reads further.

FAM general secretary Alfred Gunda said they are optimistic that BNS will pass the test to host the Afcon qualifiers following FAM and government’s efforts to work on its shortfalls.

Two weeks ago, the association’s club licensing manager Casper Jangale and BNS stadium manager Ambirike Mwaungulu said they were optimistic the stadium would make the grade having worked on all the areas raised by CAF.

The 41 100 capacity arena was proposed by the local football governing body to host the 2023 Afcon qualifiers after failed bids to host the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, which left the Flames playing their home matches in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The crucial areas raised by CAF were the pitch, toilets, removal of advertising panels, substitutes and referees benches and creation of medical and doping rooms.

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