Football or water polo: Serious infrastructure gap

Images taken at waterlogged Gibo Stadium where some of the Castle Lager Premiership opening round of matches were played during the weekend

Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
SOME, if not most, of the matches played in the opening Castle Lager Premiership matches last weekend did not give a true reflection of the teams’ strengths and weaknesses, as water polo tactics had to be employed to win a game of football.
Manica Diamonds fought long and hard for the entire 90 minutes to hold Simba Bhora to a goalless stalemate at a waterlogged Gibo Stadium in Triangle, only to succumb two minutes into added time to end the encounter in favour of Simba Bhora by a solitary goal.
Dynamos FC battled through a rain-soaked, mud-slicked Ascot Stadium to edge TelOne FC 2-1 in a rescheduled Matchday One Castle Lager Premier Soccer League clash played on Sunday morning.
Even the match between Hardrock FC and Scottland FC at supposedly state-of-the-art Chahwanda Stadium on Sunday ended in a 0-0 draw, with reports indicating that the pitch conditions were suboptimal and affected gameplay.
This is a challenge that the country’s most supported game of football faces, and suggestions that domestic football leagues must align their season calendar to the global season timelines remain void of meaning and sense as long as the infrastructure does not have requisite drainage systems.
No wonder why the Government has taken it upon itself to award tax incentive proposals to companies involved in stadium construction, with the move expected to spark an increase in the establishment of the country’s sports infrastructure. The move, announced by Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Mthuli Ncube during a 2026 budget presentation, is anticipated to see companies that build or upgrade public sports facilities claiming 150 percent of their investment as a tax deduction over two years.
This is the same initiative that Mutare City Council hopes to leverage on as it seeks to upgrade Sakubva Stadium in Mutare to a world-class match venue.
According to the proposal, companies that build or upgrade public sports facilities can claim 150 percent of their investment as a tax deduction over two years.
“If a company spends US$1m fixing a stadium, it can deduct US$1,5m from its taxable income over two years. Specialised equipment for stadia, such as turfs, seats, lighting, scoreboards, will come in duty-free,” Ncube said in the recent budget presentation.
He also announced tax credits for youth sports and companies that fund rural sports academies or SRC-registered youth programmes. They are set to get a US$10 000 tax credit. Private businesses have of late played a significant part in stadium construction.
Meanwhile, Manica Diamonds head coach, Tafadzwa Mashiri, says his team is regrouping after losing their opening match of the season against Simba Bhora at Gibbo Stadium last Sunday, where they conceded a late goal in the 92nd minute. Mashiri told Post Sports that the goal came from a cross his team failed to clear, costing them a point in a match played under very difficult conditions as the pitch was badly waterlogged, making it hard for the ball to move and preventing the team from fully implementing what they had trained. Despite improvising and competing well for most of the match, he said the team failed to manage the game at the crucial moment.
He went on to say that Manica Diamonds will now focus on their next fixture against FC Platinum at Mandava Stadium on Saturday, hoping for better pitch conditions as both teams seek their first points after FC Platinum also lost 2-1 to Ngezi Platinum Stars FC in their opening game.
“We lost our first match of the season against Simba Bhora at Gibo Stadium in Triangle. We lost it right at the death when we failed to deal with a cross. We succumbed at a time when we thought we had salvaged a point and the game was almost over in the 92nd minute. It was three points lost.
It was a match played under very difficult conditions. The pitch was waterlogged. The conditions were difficult.
We just had to adjust so that we managed the bad conditions of the pitch.
“We take it as a stumble and it is not a fall. We are focusing on our next match against FC Platinum, and we are really hopeful that we will not get the same pitch conditions we had last week. It will not be an easy match given that our opponents also lost their first match against Ngezi Platinum, and they would obviously want to collect their first set of maximum points. We also find ourselves in the same situation. That will not make our next match an easy one,” said Mashiri.