Chronicle Editor
Eddie Chikamhi, Harare Bureau
HARARE giants, Dynamos are set to meet over the choice of home ground for the second round of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup after they were paired with Botswana side Orapa United.
The former Zimbabwean champions, who had adopted Botswana for the preliminary round against Zesco United of Zambia, find themselves having to rethink that option as they do not want to give their opponents home advantage twice at the expense of the ticket to the group stage of the tournament.
Dynamos edged Zesco United 1-0 on aggregate to book a date against the Botswana side. They will play the first leg away in Botswana over the weekend of September 13-15, with the return leg a week later at a venue to be advised.
DeMbare chairman, Moses Maunganidze said the club’s management will decide in the next 48 hours. They are also toying with the idea of moving base to Zambia.
“We have to sit down with all the stakeholders to see if we can play both games in Botswana or if we move our home game elsewhere in the neighbouring countries.
“I think we will need to come up with a position in the next 48 hours because we must secure a venue as soon as possible.
“The other option is Heroes Stadium in Zambia but in terms of the cost of hiring we found Botswana fairly competitive,” said Maunganidze.
The Glamour Boys currently do not have the privilege of playing on home soil since local stadiums are currently blacklisted by CAF after failing to meet the requirements.
DeMbare had originally earmarked Francistown Stadium, which is located approximately 600km from Harare, as their first choice of adopted home before authorities in Botswana offered Gaborone National Stadium for their preliminary round encounter against Zesco United.
Ironically, Orapa United are also using Francistown Stadium, which is about 250km away from their mining town. This could mean both matches would be played at the same venue if DeMbare does not find a suitable alternative.
“In our initial arrangements, we had requested Francistown Stadium because of its proximity to Zimbabwe. We wanted to make it a bit convenient for our fans, especially those from Bulawayo, to travel.
“But the stadium had already been booked and the authorities in Botswana gave us an alternative in Gaborone. So, we will make a formal request after we have met and come up with a resolution.
“It’s always difficult to organise a home match away from home. It requires a lot of resources as well as due diligence to manage these things. It’s quite difficult.
“It’s always good to play on home soil. We just hope and pray for more progress at the National Sports Stadium because we hear by December it will be able to host games. We are happy with what the authorities are doing but our focus at the moment is on the game against Orapa United,” said Maunganidze.
Dynamos beat ZESCO United 1-0 on aggregate, thanks to Tanaka Shandirwa’s strike in the first leg in Botswana. They then held the Zambians goalless at their backyard in Ndola at the weekend to mark their return to Africa after a decade with a win.
“We appreciate the response by the players. Congratulations to them for making it past the preliminary round first round. For the entire period against ZESCO United, they gave everything.
“Most of them were playing at this level for the first time. We learnt a lot of lessons and there is a renewed belief among the players. But the job is still to be completed.
“We are 180 minutes away from the group stages and there is a lot of work that needs to be done. Many people had not given us a chance against ZESCO United, who are perennial campaigners but the fact that we are closer to the group stages is a bigger motivation.
“So, we are appealing to all the stakeholders to keep pushing, and who knows?” said Maunganidze.
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