admin
Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter—
THE Orange Caf Confederation Cup preliminary round first leg tie between Zimbabwe’s How Mine and Zanzibar’s Chuoni FC set for Barbourfields Stadium this afternoon hangs in the balance due to incessant rains that have been pounding Bulawayo and its environs.Bulawayo’s ceremonial home of soccer has a poor drainage system and the heavy downpour that pounded the city in the last week left the pitch waterlogged.
The match commissioner, Barry Rukoro, from Namibia, inspected Barbourfields Stadium in the presence of Zifa, How Mine and Chuoni FC officials and advised the two clubs against training at the match venue. They also had a tour of Luveve Stadium.
How Mine had to conduct their final session at Luveve Stadium while Chuoni FC did theirs at White City Stadium.
From a distance, the playing surface looks perfect but underneath the greens there is plenty of water.
Responding to questions after the tour, Zifa education officer Brian Moyo, who was standing in for Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze, said they would have another inspection of Barbourfields Stadium this morning.
“The match commissioner gave How Mine the go ahead to brand Barbourfields Stadium meaning that the game is set for Barbourfields Stadium. Unfortunately the visitors and even the home team will now have to play without having trained at the match venue as Barry felt that there is a need to preserve the little promising state.
“The other thing is that we will assess the situation tomorrow (today) morning and if the heavens decide to close just for tonight and throughout the day tomorrow, then the situation is likely to improve,” said Moyo.
As the norm with international matches, the visiting team gets to feel the match venue a day before the actual game and it remains to be seen whether the Zanzibar club will lodge a complaint with Caf.
Last week, online reports said a German outfit Eintracht Braunschweig found an innovative way of drying their pitch after a deluge of rain at the club’s home ground.
Instead of the more traditional methods of garden tools or even a steam roller to sort out the soaked turf, the Bundesliga club used a helicopter as a giant “hair dryer” to blow the water onto the touchlines.
As for Barbourfields Stadium, a ground curator said the turf at Emagumeni is not being properly managed.
“The problem is that some people think just watering the grass at Barfourfields Stadium is enough which is wrong. That is a sporting field and maintenance is different.
The local authority must invest in skilled personnel as well as right machinery to maintain the facility just like what is happening at Queens Sports Club. The nets at Queens Sports Club were waterlogged at the beginning of the week but in just a day the groundsmen had managed to make the facility ready for play,” said the curator.
Despite not training at the venue, How Mine coach Philani “Beefy” Ncube remains hopeful of getting a healthy lead.
“Obviously if the pitch is waterlogged it means re-strategising and that is what we will do. It demands that we come up with a different game plan altogether. We will go out there for a positive result,” said Ncube.
Online Reporter