D-day for PSL clubs stadia registration… as league engages Harare stadium owner

THE Premier Soccer league clubs are today expected to submit updated details of at least two of their preferred stadia they want to use for the remainder of the season.

Faced by a stadia crisis that forced the PSL to take an early mid-season break following closure of the National Sports Stadium which is going through maintenance, the league has demanded that the clubs submit leases with the stadium owners for the venues they will opt for.

It is mainly the Harare teams who are in a fix as they have been cramped at the National Sports Stadium, where eight clubs including ZPC Kariba and Simba Bhora used the facility.

The Harare clubs that have been using the giant stadium are Dynamos, Caps United, Herentals, Black Rhinos, Cranborne Bullets and Yadah.

With the National Sports Stadium closed, and Rufaro Stadium renovations still going on, Harare clubs are in a dilemma as the Sport and Recreation Commission has indicated that upon finishing works at the giant stadium, only two matches per week will be allowed at the facility.

The PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele said the request for clubs to register stadia is in line with Order 39 of the Premier Soccer League’s rules and regulations of football stadiums.

“Each club shall either own its ground and training facilities or have a legally enforceable lease agreement with its owner for home matches use by the club. The lease agreement of the stadium should be valid for the whole season.

“Each club shall register its home and alternative stadium with the chief executive officer and no club shall move to another stadium without first obtaining the written consent of the chief executive officer,” reads part Order 39.

Ndebele added that they are engaging a stadium owner in Harare to accommodate some of the Premiership teams from the capital.

Though the PSL CEO could not be drawn into revealing the facility that they are targeting, there are unconfirmed reports that the league is in negotiations with the owners of Morris Depot Stadium, a facility that has in the past handled Premiership games.

The PSL is also hopeful that by the time the league games resume at the beginning of July, ZPC Kariba’s Nyamhunga home will be ready for topflight matches.

Simba Bhora are also expected to move to Wadzanai Stadium in Shamva, leaving Dynamos, Caps United, Black Rhinos, Herentals, Cranborne Bullets and Yadah in Harare.

It is highly likely that with the National Sports Stadium set to host two matches per week when it reopens, some of the teams in Harare will seek alternative venues outside Harare.

The National Sports Stadium posed a health hazard, as the facility which has hosted 44 Castle Lager Premiership matches in 12 weeks had gone for at least two months without water.

Ablution facilities and water reticulation system at the National Sports Stadium had broken down, with the turf also worn out due to over use. Presently, the turf is being watered using a hosepipe.

Apart from Harare teams, Manica Diamonds and Greenfuel who have been lodging at Triangle United’s Gibbo Stadium, will be hoping to have their home grounds in Mutare and Chisumbanje done by the time league games resume.

Bulawayo teams, Highlanders, Bulawayo Chiefs and Chicken Inn are not affected by the stadia crisis, sharing Barbourfields and Luveve.
Champions FC Platinum, Ngezi Platinum Stars, Sheasham and Hwange own homologated stadiums. — @ZililoR