Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIFA and football’s all-weather friend Sakunda Holdings have struck a landmark deal with the energy giants yesterday, committing to set up Video Assistant Referee equipment at the recently modernised National Sports Stadium.
The iconic homes of football — Rufaro in Harare and Barbourfields in Bulawayo — are also set to benefit from the milestone development.
The National Sports Stadium, fresh from being granted partial homologation by the Confederation of African Football, which ensures the return of international football to the venue for the first time since 2021, will be the first beneficiary of the project, which is expected to be functional by year-end.
Thereafter, the VAR project will move to Rufaro and Barbourfields.
CAF granted Category 3 status to the National Sports Stadium, allowing for the staging of World Cup, Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Champions League and Confederation Cup matches.
Domestic soccer kings Scottland will be the first to sample the new-look National Sports Stadium when they host Eswatini outfit Nsingizini in a Champions League preliminary round, first-leg encounter on September 6.
The Warriors, who last played at the National Stadium on November 14, 2021, in a 2022 World Cup qualifier against Ethiopia, which ended 1-1, will return with an AFCON assignment against the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Winger Kudakwashe Mahachi, now a left-back at Highlanders, was the last Zimbabwe player to score at the National Sports Stadium. As the Warriors look to ending the long hiatus from the National Stadium, ZIFA were relishing the prospects of having VAR technology installed at the venue and at both Rufaro and Barbourfields.
After the National Sports Stadium’s VAR installation, the ceremonial home of football, Rufaro and Barbourfields Stadium will then follow suit by March 2027.
More importantly, the deal between Sakunda Holdings and ZIFA is expected to revolutionise the domestic game.
ZIFA negotiated the deal with Sakunda Holdings, expressing their commitment to ensure the implementation of the project in the country’s three main football venues.
The development left ZIFA president Nqobile Magwizi, a naturally happy man.
Magwizi, who also sits on the COSAFA executive committee, has watched with envy as the regional body adopted the use of VAR at their tournaments in line with the trends at FIFA and CAF competitions.
Now Magwizi and his leadership are on the threshold of having the technology on their doorstep.
The ZIFA boss, in saluting Sakunda Holdings for their support to football and national projects, hailed the VAR development as a huge milestone.
“In an era where technology is the in-thing across the globe, it is a huge milestone not just for ZIFA but for our entire football ecosystem to have Video Assistant Referee (VAR) equipment installed at the National Sports Stadium,’’ Magwizi said.
“We would love to have VAR across our major venues, but we are very grateful to Sakunda Holdings for partnering with us in the installation of VAR equipment at the National Stadium for a start, and later Rufaro and Barbourfields.
“This is in line with the modernisation which has taken place at the National Sports Stadium, which is a vital national asset and for which Sakunda played a key role.
“The installation of VAR equipment will not only enhance the bid for full homologation of the stadium by CAF but will assist more of our referees to acquaint themselves with the technology without incurring the expenses of having to travel to other countries for the training.
Apart from FIFA and CAF, COSAFA has already started using VAR at its tournaments, which is a clear testimony that VAR is here to stay and it was only imperative that, as Zimbabwe, we also move in sync with the global trends,’’ Magwizi said.
Interestingly, the best referee to have emerged from Zimbabwe, Felix Tangawarima, now a FIFA technical instructor, has been championing the use of VAR in the COSAFA region, in particular, and across the continent.
Tangawarima, a record eight-time Zimbabwe Referee of the Year, is also the COSAFA Referees Manager and will be a sure bet to help ZIFA maximise the VAR technology.
The closest successor to Tangawarima’s Zimbabwe throne, Brighton Chimene, has also interestingly been receiving assignments as a VAR official from CAF at such major competitions like the AFCON.
Now with VAR equipment set to be installed at home, ZIFA will be eager to capitalise and grow the number of referees who can use the technology, and this is thanks to their partnership with Sakunda Holdings.
