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Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
AFTER months of false promises and missed deadlines, Harare City Council are tomorrow set to commission Rufaro Stadium as renovations at the Mbare venue continue to gather pace.
The commissioning ceremony was initially scheduled for today but the City Fathers yesterday advised they had postponed the event. The Herald yesterday visited the iconic venue and witnessed workmen busy with the final touch ups to the car park area and around the perimeter wall.
“The commissioning of Rufaro stadium, currently undergoing refurbishment, specifically to fit FIFA expectations, has been postponed to Thursday from 1000hrs. The event was originally scheduled for Wednesday (today),” said the Harare City Council in a statement. Rufaro Stadium was closed down four years ago after it had deteriorated to unacceptable standards due to years of neglect and corruption in the Council.
Renovations at the stadium have made significant progress but from general observations, the facility would need more time before opening doors to Premiership football as there is still a lot of work to be done.
The stadium has been under renovations for the last five months, which in normal circumstances would not be enough to meet a catalogue of requirements required by CAF and FIFA for the venue to be given the green-light to host international football.
The football fraternity has been clamouring for the sprucing up of the stadium.
So far the playing area has been attended to and the turf looked lush green and the drainage system, as well as expanded changing rooms, were nearing completion when ZIFA and the Premier Soccer League toured the venue last month.
Work outside the stadium has also gone a gear up with paving at the car park almost complete, whilst more structures are still being worked on. The Council also hopes to set up a shopping complex at the facility.
But before most of the proposed facilities are complete, Harare City Council, who are the owners of the stadium, said they were looking to hand over the facility to the domestic football authorities.
There is a lot of work that needs to be done in order for the ground to meet the CAF and FIFA approved standards, though.
The body of local stadium inspectors, which comprises members from PSL and ZIFA, has made extensive recommendations for it to meet the required CAF and FIFA standards. When the stadium was closed in 2019, the stadium inspectors highlighted nine areas which required attention before Rufaro could be allowed to host league matches.
They wanted the playing surface to be levelled, new pitch perimeter support structures and a new razor wire around the perimeter wall to be installed.
They also expressed dissatisfaction over the drainage system and the ablution facilities which they wanted overhauled, as well as the expansion and upgrading of dressing rooms for teams and match officials.
The inspectors wanted the Council to provide facilities for the physically challenged and to improve the general cleaning of the stadium and its surroundings.
Other areas of concern included the lack of direction signs to the stadium as well as the spectators’ seating areas which needed to be installed with bucket seats.
The CAF inspection committee also made similar recommendations the last time they came to Zimbabwe to inspect the stadium and added more areas of concern.
These included the construction of such facilities as standard doping rooms, a medical facility, press rooms, television camera points and installation of modern electronic turnstiles. The PSL and ZIFA have also been pushing for the quick refurbishment of the facility because of a stadium crisis currently gripping the PSL, where teams mostly from Harare have been asked to look for alternative homes, as the National Sports Stadium is also undergoing maintenance.
Online Reporter