Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira
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THE Sheasham FC hierarchy says they will be able to complete work at their Bata Stadium within the next 14 days.
Bata Stadium, home to Sheasham FC, has only hosted one Premiership game, that is, the match between the Midlands-based team against Highlanders which ended 0-0 a fortnight ago.
Before the Premier Soccer League stepped in to suspend the incomplete facility which is still going through transformation from hosting games, Sheasham played its home matches in Zvishavane.
The encounter against Highlanders exposed that Bata does not have the capacity to host big matches with incomplete terraces that saw fans watching the encounter sitting on the soil.
Work still needs to be done behind the perfect view of the VIP terraces.
Applauding Sheasham for embarking on resuscitation of Bata Stadium project, the PSL said: “…note that after due consideration, it is in the interests of all football stakeholders that your club completes all the construction work at Bata Stadium before the stadium can host Castle Lager Premier Soccer League matches.
“We are aware that you are currently working on the terraces and outside rooms among other works. Please proceed and improve the playing surface and other stadium aesthetics as well.”
The playing surface at Bata Stadium is bumpy.
Now Sheasham has to go back to Mandava and if they fail to get a lease, they intend to come to Luveve Stadium in Bulawayo.
The closure of Bata Stadium means that Sheasham will play Caps United outside Gweru. Should they finish within the 14 days that they have given themselves, Sheasham will return to Bata Stadium for their Matchday 12 encounter against Herentals.
After Caps United, they travel to Gibbo Stadium for a date with Triangle United.
Meanwhile, Sheasham president Clever Mandaza said they find it odd that they got the suspension correspondence from the PSL yet it is the First Instance Board (FIB) that homologated the stadium initially.
“We have not heard from Zifa who are the guys who approved the stadium. If Zifa were to write to us and explain why the stadium has now been banned that would make sense. It’s Zifa who should tell us about the suspension,” said Mandaza.
He went on to give an update on the progress they have made at Bata Stadium.
“We have put in a lot of effort. Luckily for us, we are a construction company. People will not know how much input we have put in to come up with a stadium of that nature. We have put half a million dollars to develop that place which was now dilapidated and we have improved it to the state it is at right now.
We are 90 to 95 percent through. We are left with finishing up the grandstands, a portion of it not the rest of the ground. We have wrapped up 55 percent of the grandstands. Now we are putting up the remaining portion which should be done within the next fourteen days we should be through. From our own view Shesham continues playing at Bata,” said Mandaza.
Reginald Chidawanyika, Sheasham chairman, said he has started looking for an alternative venue.
“We were on a short lease agreement with FC Platinum and they indicated they will not be able to host us for long for obvious reasons. They have their women’s side and Under-19 side using the same venue.
The main target for me is to go and negotiate with FC Platinum if they don’t agree l have to come here to Luveve to Bulawayo and negotiate with the Bulawayo City Council.
“I think you can see from where we started and where we are now that we are going in a certain direction and we are indebted to our principal sponsor president Mandaza and everyone who assists him in realising the dream of making sure we have a home where we play our football.
“We have been affected by the correspondence we have received from the PSL suspending Bata Stadium. As the construction boys, we take it as a small hurdle. When we embarked on building that stadium we took a tour of the stadiums that are approved. We saw what needed to be in place to have our stadium hosting PSL matches, which is what we are doing,” Chidawanyika said.
“We were at Luveve Stadium at the weekend and the VIP does not have what we have. There is no shade or bucket seats but we are playing football. We were at Ngezi. The only difference is they have put the grass in the seating areas.
We hosted Highlanders and other than the social media picture of the portion that is yet to be done the other parts are good. When we played Dynamos the toilets at the National Sports Stadium in the section of the home-away team were not functional but the stadium still hosts matches,” he added.
The majority of the country’s stadiums are in poor condition and require significant investment to bring them up to modern standards.
Online Reporter