adminPetros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
FORMER Warriors midfielder Edzai Kasinauyo has made a passionate plea to the government and the private sector to come together and turn Nyamhunga into a world class stadium that could help to unlock the value in domestic football.
Kasinauyo was in Kariba last week where he saw some of the refurbishment work being done to the stadium which is being earmarked for use by Premiership debutants ZPC Kariba as their home ground.
ZPC Kariba have taken the Premiership by storm in their maiden season with Saul Chaminuka’s men leading the log standings for much of the opening spell before slipping into their current second place where they are breathing heavily on champions Dynamos.
It was after touring the stadium that Kasinauyo was charmed by the environment and yet left pondering on the opportunity that Zimbabwe could capitalise on by using Kariba’s global attractiveness as a tourist resort to lure the world’s major football clubs to the town.
Kasinauyo said football also needed to take a cue from cricket that is set to construct a stadium in Victoria Falls as part of its vision 2020.
The former Zimbabwe midfielder, who played club football for such teams like Blackpool, Ajax Cape Town and Moroka Swallows before venturing into business, implored the Government to lead the way in securing private partnerships to develop Nyamhunga.
Having spent several years at Ajax Cape Town, Kasinauyo said he had noted how much Cape Town was using its stadiums to boost tourism.
“I saw what is being done at Nyamhunga but I think the refurbishment of the stadium and the building of such facilities like a state of the art gym should not just be left in the hands of the town council, it should be a collective effort by everyone, the Government and the corporate world.
“I think Kariba presents a perfect opportunity for Zimbabwe to capitalise on sport tourism. We are trying to put value in football and in order to do that we also need to grow our assets ad stadiums are some of the assets that we can use to grow.
“That stadium in Kariba can be turned into a major asset because it is located in a holiday resort and even without playing matches there a world class stadium can attract teams coming for training camps’,” said Kasinuayo.
Zimbabwe, Kasinauyo said, is endowed with “perfect weather which in itself should be a key attraction for sport tourism’’.
“The weather is something that we are not fully utilising . . . where in the world do you get such weather like the one we have in Zimbabwe? Where in the world do you find a beautiful place that is similar to Kariba?
“All we need now is to build the right facilities then we can invite the world’s top clubs like Manchester United or Real Madrid for pre-season here but without facilities how can we do that because they would also want to mix a bit of some holiday and training.
“It would be sad if we were to sit and regret the lost opportunity after we have build a substandard stadium. I have seen clubs from all over the world, be it Swedish or English, going to Cape Town and Johannesburg for pre-season mainly because of the weather and the facilities.
“America has also benefitted a lot from teams visiting them for pre-season because of their weather and the facilities they have so even as we bid for AFCON we should use the power of Kariba as a holiday resort,” said kasinauyo.
Kasinauyo noted that it would be an embarrassing unfortunate scenario if ZPC Kariba were to qualify to play in the Champions League but suddenly found that they would have to take their home matches to Harare.
“That would be a huge shame for us as a country and we would have lost a lot of business opportunities.
“We don’t have to try and build a 60 000-seater stadium there, even a 20 000-seater that has suites where companies can buy for their clients, executives and partners.
“I know that investors would love to even buy a suite for the whole season and one can have his weekend start on a Friday in Kariba and complete it on Sunday with a football match there.
“We also need to appreciate the fact that there are two types of supporters, one who can just afford the entry fees and another who has money and wants to come to the game and also spend at the match so we must at all stadiums try to ensure that both sets of fans are comfortable with the set up.
“So you can imagine how much could be made from the facilities even before a ball is kicked,’’ Kasinauyo said.
Although Zimbabwe have bid to host the 2017 edition of the Nations Cup, Kasinauyo insisted that his vision was not premised on that bid but the sport tourism potential he saw in abundance in Kariba.
Zimbabwe will compete against six other bids from Algeria, Ghana, Sudan, Gabon, Kenya, and Egypt.
The host country will be decided by the CAF Executive Committee during one of its sessions in 2015.
Online Reporter