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Sports Reporter
GIANTS CAPS United are set to host Highlanders at Barbourfields when the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League matches resume this weekend.
The matches are set to resume after a three-week break that was caused by a shortage of stadiums following the maintenance works currently being carried out at the National Sports Stadium.
Eight teams including DeMbare, CAPS United, Black Rhinos, Cranborne Bullets, Simba Bhora, Herentals, Yadah and ZPC Kariba shared the National Sports Stadium as their home ground.
Makepekepe, who were set to host Bosso at the giant stadium when the games were abruptly halted, will be the first of the two Harare giants to host Bosso on their own turf in the history of the domestic game.
Crosstown rivals Dynamos will also use Barbourfields but this weekend they travel to Bata to face hosts Rhinos after the army side settled for the recently refurbished Gweru venue.
ZPC Kariba will play at Nyamhunga for the first time after the ground got the thumbs up. They host Yadah hoping for a turnaround of fortunes.
The Kariba side were among the eight teams that lodged at the National Sports stadium. The giant facility has accommodated at least four games every week for the past four months and inevitably the turf has been damaged due to overuse.
Water reticulation system at the venue also needs attention.
And, stadium authorities have for the past three weeks been working to address those areas while the PSL suspended top-flight games to pave way for the refurbishments.
However, with work still going on at the venue, PSL have had to ask the eight affected clubs to look for other grounds where they would play as league action looks to bounce back.
The stadium crisis is expected to ease a bit after completion of renovations at Sakubva, Wadzanai, Rufaro and GreenFuel Arena.
PSL chairman Farai Jere, who is also the president of CAPS United, said the league was not compromising on stadium standards.
Speaking on the sidelines of a high-level PSL training indaba organised by Zimpapers through their television department ZTN Prime, Jere said standards ought to be upheld.
“We are not going to lower standards. It’s a risk,” he said.
“Once we lower standards you are not doing any favours to yourselves because people will then become used to such bad standards.
“Clubs would have to travel (from Harare) even to Barbourfields for their matches because we need to maintain standards. Once we start tempering with standards, we will be digging our own graves because we will set the wrong precedence.
“There is a huge difference between the lower league and the premier league. We should be seen as premier and we should be seen upholding certain standards which is what we call integrity.
“If we start tempering with those, it will obviously not work.
“I am very happy that there is a lot of progress as far as the renovation of our stadiums is concerned”.
Fixtures:
Saturday: Bulawayo Chiefs v GreenFuel (Luveve), Manica Diamonds v Sheasham (Gibbo), FC Platinum v Chicken Inn (Mandava), Ngezi Platinum Stars v Hwange (Baobab), ZPC Kariba v Yadah (Nyamhunga)
Sunday: Black Rhinos v Dynamos (Bata), CAPS Utd v Highlanders (BF), Triangle v Cranborne Bullets (Gibbo), Herentals v Simba Bhora (Mandava)
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