Online Reporter
Tongai Mashonga
Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) president, Nqobile Magwizi, expressed his satisfaction with the rapid progress being made at Chahwanda Stadium- Heart Main Arena, which is currently under construction in Kwekwe.
Magwizi toured the 15 000-seater facility yesterday in Kwekwe, where he was accompanied by Zifa, Projects and Infrastructure Committee, chairperson, Brighton Ushendibaba being led by Prophet Walter Magaya and Sherpherd Chahwanda, proprietor of the facility.
During his tour of the facility, Magwizi was impressed by the sheer scale and quality of the work being done.
“I am thrilled to see immense progress taking place here at Chahwanda Stadium,” Magwizi said.
“The stadium is going to be a game changer for Zimbabwean football and I am confident that it will host many international matches.
“I never imagined that there will be something like this in Kwekwe. I express my gratitude to Prophet Walter Magaya and his team for such an amazing job that has been done so far. When I passed through this place, on my way to my rural home a few months ago, there was nothing and today, seeing this infrastructure in place is really impressive.”
Magwizi said Zifa was keen on having adequate infrastructure for the game.
“At Zifa, we are looking at a situation where we have adequate infrastructure for football. Recently, the chairperson of the Projects and Infrastructure Committee, Brighton Ushendibaba who is with me here today, has been conducting a survey to come up with statistics on the number of football pitches we have in every province. The numbers coming out shows we have a bit of a challenge, but with such interventions, I think the future is very bright. We are indeed destined for greater achievements in future as a country,” said Magwizi.
Magwizi revealed that the completion of the facility will mark the return of international football at home as he will communicate with the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to arrange for preliminary assessment of the stadium.
“We want to ensure that Chahwanda Stadium meets the international standards and we will communicate with Caf, to arrange for a preliminary assessment of the stadium. By engaging Caf at this early stage, we can ensure that the stadium is fully compliant with their requirements and we can avoid any potential issues of delay. When they come for final inspection of the stadium, they will just tick all the boxes. If the stadium is completed in the next few months to come, this will mark our return to playing international matches at home. I am hoping that in the few months to come, when the stadium is complete, we will have something big here.
“This facility has an array of amenities, it’s a lifestyle centre with amenities ranging from entertainment, shopping, health facility, gym and a provision of administration offices for Zifa.
“We have travelled to Spain, England and other countries going to see projects for football pitches and this facility matches the qualities you see elsewhere in the world. Unfortunately Zimbabweans, we have a tendency of undermining what we have but here we are seeing Zimbabwean excellency,” Magwizi explained.
The founder of Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries (PHD) Prophet Magaya, revealed that the initial completion date of the stadium has been moved from the earlier targeted end of March to May.
“We have since revised the date of completing construction of the stadium from the earlier targeted date of end of March to May. This is due to the decision to increase the capacity of the stadium from the earlier targeted 10 000 seating capacity to 15 000, which is the minimum carrying capacity recommended by the Federation of International Football Association (Fifa) for hosting national teams’ international matches,” said Magaya.
Magaya also appealed for duty and rebates assistance when importing materials for construction at the stadium.
“We bought all these material here on our own, no duty free, no tax rebates but we are trying by all means to add value in our country’s football development.
“We are looking forward to a small assistance and your coming here as a football leader is a great inspiration, which motivates us to do more”, said Magaya.
Chahwanda Stadium is expected to become a state of the art facility, capable of hosting high-profile international matches.
At the moment, the city’s only Premier Soccer League club, Kwekwe United play their home matches in Gweru because Kwekwe has no homologated facility.
