During the draw Moyale Barracks were expected to host the match but the soldiers wrote Football Association of Malawi on that the venue would not be available.

FAM Competitions Officer Gomegzani Zakazaka said the situation ‘was out of their hands’ stressing that the association did not dictate on the venue of the match.

“The match between Moyale Barracks and Bullets FC the organising committee had scheduled that game for Mzuzu Stadium but unfortunately we were given a letter by Moyale Barracks which we confirmed with the owners of the ground Mzuzu City Council saying that Mzuzu Stadium is not available for football because it has been booked for other private functions from 21st to 28 September,” Zakazaka said.

He said the association had also planned to fix the game at Chitowe Stadium but the Lions of Kaning’ina opted for the Capital City.

“We had offered to take the match to Chitowe Ground but Moyale came back to us with an official letter saying that they would prefer playing the match in Lilongwe. That’s why that matches scheduled for Civo Stadium on 27 September. It’s out of hands as we had planned to have this match at Mzuzu Stadium,” he said.

He also said going by the football calendar all the quarterfinal matches in the Standard Bank Knockout should be played by Sunday.

In a related development the match between Red Lions and Mighty Be Forward Wanderers was also rescheduled from Zomba Community Centre Ground to Kamuzu Stadium because of the poor conditions of the pitch.

FAM decided to move to the match to Kamuzu Stadium after noticing that the pitch was in unplayable condition and unfit to host a high profile match.

In other quarterfinals, Civo United date Dedza Young Soccer Stars on Friday while Mighty Be Forward Wanderers face Red Lions, Silver Strikers are at daggers drawn with Blue Eagles.