Online Reporter
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
MUTARE Castle Lager Premiership outfit, Manica Diamonds, will not be able to use Sakubva Stadium as its home ground during the 2026 season, after Mutare City Council took a bold decision to carry out major renovations that will bring the stadium up to internationally acceptable standards.
Mutare City Council Town Clerk, Blessing Chafesuka, confirmed that the facility is likely to be closed for the 2026 Castle Lager Premiership matches to allow for the smooth progress of the refurbishment project.
“We are going to carry out major renovations at Sakubva Stadium that will not allow Premiership matches to be played there. This means the teams intending to use it as their home ground will have to find alternative venues,” said Chafesuka.
Apparently, this is not the first time that Manica Diamonds have played their home matches away from home, after the Gem Boys went through the same experience in 2019 and 2023.
The renovations at Sakubva Stadium are meant to make the facility meet the acceptable standards to host international matches, and the scope of works will straddle all components of the stadium superstructure.
In the absence of Sakubva Stadium on the list of home grounds, Manica Diamonds would usually choose Triangle, but the GreenFuel Arena is likely to be an easy choice for the Gem Boys, given the shorter distance from Mutare to Chisumbanje.
The Chisumbanje PSL match venue was used by its owners, GreenFuel FC, during last year’s Castle Lager Premiership season, before the team was relegated to the Pacific Storm Eastern Region Division One League.
However, when contacted for comment on their alternative home ground, Manica Diamonds chairman, Masimba Chihowa, expressed reservations about using GreenFuel Arena, citing the possible absence of suitable accommodation facilities in the area.
“It would make sense to use the GreenFuel Arena as an alternative for Sakubva Stadium because of the shorter distance compared to Triangle’s Gibbo Stadium. However, we are not sure of the state of accommodation that we can find in the vicinity of the GreenFuel Arena. That aspect alone might force us to revert to Gibbo Stadium,” said Chihowa.
The envisaged major renovations of Sakubva Stadium are expected to last the whole of the 2026 season.
