Antipas challenges Bulawayo City Council

CHICKEN INN head coach Joey Antipas has challenged the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) to consider providing decent and adequate training grounds.

Antipas, a veteran PSL coach, who has also been in charge of the national team, is preparing Chicken Inn for the 2025 season.

“Our preparations for the forthcoming season have been going on well. However, there are no adequate and decent grounds for us to do our pre-season training. I think the council must make available several and more comfortable grounds. We have been conducting our pre-season training at Hartsfield B Arena, it’s so hard and players might get injured. Ascot Racecourse it’s hard but better than Hartfield B Arena,” said Antipas.

The local authority owns three stadia namely Barbourfields, Luveve and White City which are usually closed during this time of the season for the turf to get a new life.

City Premier and Division One clubs have been forced to use facilities owned by schools as Barbourfields Stadium is used once ahead of a home fixture. The other stadia accommodate clubs’ training but are not adequate and as such clubs share hours of training.

But from November till about late February, no activity is allowed on the city council-owned facilities hence Antipas’ call.

The rest of the local authority’s fields which are in the western suburbs are hard surfaces and therefore expose players to risks of injuries.

The PSL is working on the return of league action but unfortunately what is obtaining on the ground indicates that few stadiums will be declared fit to host the games.

The city council-owned venues have at times seen some minor upgrades but the renovations are at times affected by budget constraints.

Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart is on record as saying there is an urgent need to rehabilitate stadia in the country’s second largest city.

Coltart indicated Bulawayo’s plans to upgrade major sports facilities, including Barbourfields, Hartsfield and Queens Sports Club.

He underscored that Barbourfields Stadium has potential to host international matches if the city allocates seven percent of its budget towards sports infrastructure revamp.

Most of Zimbabwe’s facilities fall far short of meeting Fifa and Caf standards and playing home matches in other countries is widely believed to affect the national teams’ performance. — @FungaiMuderere.