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THE issue of the banned stadiums that cannot stage international soccer matches has taken centre stage for the past few days.
It is a matter that, according to those involved in sports administration, they could see coming since warnings had been given over a period of time.
It is our hope that since the Government and local authorities have sprung into action, the issue shall be resolved with the urgency that it deserves. We want to watch our soccer at our local stadiums, and in a safe environment. Our plea to authorities is that instead of always reacting to emergencies, they should always have deliberate long term maintenance plans that are laid out and fiollowed to the letter. We say so because it is pointless to have plans that are not followed since that would result in us failing to use the facilities. What is not properly looked after falls apart as we have seen with the football stadiums.
Sport entertains a lot of people, and sustains quite a big number too. It is against this background that we need to inculcate a culture of not relaxing after putting up infrastructure but always tending our facilities so that they remain in the best shape. It is not just soccer stadiums that are in a sorry state as many other facilities are also crumbling under the watch of authorities. This is an area that needs serious attention.
It is time all sporting disciplines look into their respective areas and identify priorities. It would be quite unfortunate to have a headache over our football stadiums now and after remedying the situation be faced with yet another threat from another sporting discipline. With other sports, no one may ban the pitches but players would simply stop using them. At a time when the drug scourge is sweeping through the country, it is quite important that authorities direct a sizeable proportion of their budgets towards these sporting facilities to keep the youth off street corners, and off drug abuse. We certainly need short term solutions to deal with emergencies but what is more crucial is having longer term maintenance programmes that are adhered to. We do not want foreigners out there to infer that since our stadiums are not up to scratch then probably our other facilities that they may want to use when they come here are also not up to standard. This is how incompetence in one sector could ultimately put a dent on our image, and resultantly impact perceptions by potential tourists.
Online Reporter