adminDOMESTIC Premiership football action returned to Sakubva Stadium on Easter Monday after the Premier Soccer League secretariat lifted the ban they had imposed on the match venue more than a fortnight ago.
A day before the match pitting Dongo Sawmills and How Mine, Mutare Premiership side Buffaloes were ordered to play their first home match of the season against Triangle at Vengere Stadium in Rusape owing to the appalling state of Sakubva Stadium.
However, the twist of events, which came much to the relief of army outfit Buffaloes FC who use the facility as their home ground, was also good news to soccer fans in Mutare who had been left in a position to travel to Rusape every weekend to watch top flight football action at Vengere Stadium.
That Sakubva was in an appalling state no one in their right frame of mind would dispute and it was encouraging, though done a bit late, to see the local authority fast tracking their renovations so that football can be played at Sakubva Stadium.
The changing rooms are now in a better shape than they were while the perimeter fence has been repaired while the environs of the stadium have greatly improved.
Simply because we are not there to criticise for the sake of it, we will not hesitate to say the refurbishments were commendable on the part of Mutare City Council!
Although there is still room for improvement, we acknowledge the difficult economic environment that we are all operating in and the situation is not peculiar to Mutare City Council alone.
We also applaud the Premier Soccer League secretariat for making the only sensible decision that is to allow fortress Sakubva to host Premiership matches.
Although the PSL decision was made rather late, thereby leading to poor attendance during the Highlanders and Buffaloes match, we still find reason in their verdict to finally allow the soccer match venue to host top flight league matches.
In the same breath, it is our fervent hope that the Mutare City Council has drawn some lessons from the humiliation that came as a result of failing to make any effort to renovate the stadium while a small local authority like Rusape Town Council did its homework and impressed the Premier Soccer League secretariat.
Of course, the most important lesson being that renovations must be done during the off-season and not wait for March for the soccer venue to be refurbished.
In any case, Mutare City Council should never allow Sakubva Stadium to get into an appalling state as it had gone but ensure that the stadium is well looked after throughout the year.
It is also vital for clubs that use Sakubva Stadium, in future, to play their part in the renovations of the stadium during the off-season and not wait to cry foul whenever the powers that be at Premier Soccer League flex their muscles.
At the end of the day, sport and not personalities, Premier Soccer League nor Mutare City Council should be the winner!
Online Reporter