Stadium crisis hawks PSL season start

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIFA has painted a gloomy picture of some of the stadia registered by Premier Soccer League clubs, saying a meeting will be held during the week to decide whether to provisionally homologate the facilities ahead of season kick-off.

The 2021/22 Premiership season is scheduled to start on Saturday after close to two years of non-league action.

Xolisani Gwesela (pictured), the Zifa spokesperson, said the First Instance Body (FIB) has carried out stadia inspections and will announce its findings after a mid-week meeting.

“It’s unfortunate that the country’s stadia situation is still the same. The FIB did stadia inspections and you’ll be briefed on the findings after the meeting to be held during the week,” said Gwesela.

At the beginning of 2020, none of the Harare facilities passed the initial assessment by the FIB.

The National Sports Stadium and Rufaro Stadium had been closed for renovations during the time of the inspections.

The National Sports Stadium is one of five facilities that were cleared and have been used for the Chibuku Super Cup.

Barbourfields Stadium, Mandava in Zvishavane, Mutare’s Sakubva and Baobab in Mhondoro-Ngezi were also used for the Chibuku Super Cup.

Luveve Stadium in Bulawayo and Gibbo Stadium in Triangle had also previously passed FIB inspections.
Highlanders, Bulawayo City, Chicken Inn and Bulawayo Chiefs share Barbourfields and Luveve stadia.

With only the National Sports Stadium homologated, there might be a crisis for Harare teams.

Dynamos have traditionally used Rufaro Stadium, but they might be forced to share the National Sports Stadium with Caps United, Yadah, Black Rhinos, Harare City, Herentals and Cranborne Bullets if renovations at the Mbare facility aren’t completed.

It is not clear if Nyamhunga Stadium, home to ZPC Kariba, has attended to shortcomings identified by the FIB in the past.

Ascot Stadium in Gweru has been under renovations, with work on the VIP area and dressing rooms being done. Ascot is home to Premiership returnees Whawha.

In the past, Gweru teams had to either use Mandava or Luveve as their home grounds following condemnation of Ascot. — @ZililoR