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Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter
UNDER-FIRE Harare City Council have resolved to invite companies to partner them in refurbishing their stadiums across the city.
The Sunshine City have three major stadiums — Rufaro, Gwanzura and Dzivarasekwa — but all of them have been in a poor state.
Rufaro used to host many international matches but the Confederation of African Football said the Mbare venue was no longer suitable for such assignments.
Former Premier Soccer League fixtures secretary, Beadle Musa Gwasira, on Wednesday called for authorities in the country to adopt a similar model to what South Africa, and other countries, who have courted corporate partners in the maintenance of their facilities.
‘‘I have been following the issue of the stadiums very closely and it’s unfortunate that it has come to this, with us being barred from hosting our international matches at home, which is a huge setback for our national teams because there are some advantages that come with playing at home,’’ said Gwasira.
‘‘I think, one of the solutions to all this is to adopt what others are doing elsewhere and there is a reason why the City of Johannesburg, which is one of the richest metropolitan areas in Africa, finds it reasonable to get a naming rights partner, in this case FNB, for the biggest stadium in South Africa.
‘‘They also handed the management of the stadium, and other stadiums in that area, to an independent management company whose job is to ensure that it balances the costs of maintaining the stadium and also getting a profit for all the partners who have a stake in that stadium.
‘‘Once you do that, you free the local government from having to worry about the costs of maintaining the stadium, which are huge, and the commercial partner, whose name is carried by the stadium, also pours in a significant chunk into the project which then produces a win-win situation.”
And the Harare City Council appear to have heeded those calls with spokesperson, Michael Chideme, yesterday revealing the municipality were open to those partners and they have since approached several companies whom they were talking too.
“We are serious about giving our stadiums a facelift and we are very open to partnerships, in fact, we are looking for partners who can help us spruce up and maintain the stadiums,” said Chideme.
“As a council, we have been talking about that and we have people we have been talking to. However, any company is welcome to make a contribution. We are saying, come join us and we will create a win-win situation.”
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