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IT’S now almost certain that both Dynamos and Ngezi Platinum Stars will play their CAF inter-club tournament preliminary round matches away from home.
Dynamos are returning to the CAF inter-club tournaments for the first time in more than a decade and are set to play in the second-tier Confederation Cup.
The Glamour Boys will take on ZESCO United of Zambia.
Ngezi Platinum Stars will make their bow in the CAF Champions League with a date against Maniema of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Our two representatives will be the home teams in the first leg before they complete their assignments with away second leg ties in Zambia and the DRC.
The problem with both Dynamos and Ngezi Platinum Stars is that, just like the Warriors, they don’t have a home ground right now to play their matches in this country.
All our major football stadiums – the National Sports Stadium, Rufaro and Barbourfields — have not been given the clearance by CAF to host international matches.
The Warriors played their ‘home matches’ in the 2026 World Cup matches in Rwanda, against the Super Eagles of Nigeria, and in Johannesburg, against Lesotho.
They lost both matches and their fans have been arguing that the Warriors would have had a very good chance of winning against Nigeria and Lesotho had both matches been played in this country.
It’s hard to argue against that because in football, just like in many other sporting disciplines, there is an advantage that comes with playing at home.
The players just feel a level of confidence, playing in their familiar surroundings, compared to when they are away from home.
They also have their fans behind them and, in the Warriors case, they have constantly been one of the national teams in Africa who draw the biggest crowds in their home matches.
Dynamos chairman, Moses Maunganidze, said they were likely to play their home match against ZESCO United at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg.
South Africa is also likely to provide a home for Ngezi Platinum Stars.
We believe that we missed a trick when the Heart Stadium was unveiled in December last year.
We believe the Heart Stadium offered us hope, in terms of getting a stadium which could have been certified to host international matches, especially the CAF inter-club matches.
The Heart Stadium has some of the best dressing rooms one can find around the continent, it has bucket seats and it has the best playing surface in the country.
What was needed to bring the Heart Stadium into a facility, which would be cleared to host international matches by CAF, was very minimal. We believe it’s something that can still be done and, should our two clubs progress beyond the preliminary round matches, they could host their next round matches at home.
The National Sports Stadium is being renovated but it could take longer and we believe that the Heart Stadium offers us the best quick route out of the crisis we have on our hands.
Online Reporter