adminqualifier against Guinea at the giant facility on Sunday.
The committee led by Premier Soccer League chairman Twine Phiri and which also includes former Fifa referee Wilfred Mukuna and junior football chairman Zivanai “Zifa’’ Chiyangwa inspected the venue in the company of Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze and insisted the match should go ahead there.
Mashingaidze said they had since confirmed to Fifa that the game would be played at the National Stadium and instead appealed to the fans to come in numbers and back their Warriors as they begin the search for a dream place at the next World Cup finals in Brazil.
The Zifa chief executive, however conceded that the pitch was not in good shape but said the challenge was on the stadium authorities to also recognise that the facility remains a sporting venue even though it appears to have been lot to non-sporting activities.
“The report we got from the committee is that once the areas which are being attended to are complete it can host the match. However, we are imploring the relevant authorities that the pitch should be maintained as non-sporting activities are affecting it.
“We have advised the players, through their technical team, that we cannot change the venue now as it will attract a penalty from Fifa,” said Mashingaidze.
The chief executive added that, the National Sports Stadium, meets the Fifa security requirements when hosting big matches unlike Rufaro which is convenient to the fans but poses great threat in the event of a stampede or crowd trouble.
“We have to get into the culture that it is our home ground and NSS will host all the high profile matches. We have taken into consideration that in the interest of security this place meets international standards. Rufaro doesn’t provide security features and the transport flow there is terrible” said Mashingaidze.
Zifa, Mashingaidze also said, have also started selling the pre-match tickets at all its Zifa offices countrywide and revealed they would not be selling any tickets on the match day.
On Saturday morning, Zifa will also conduct sales at the National Sports Stadium, the match venue.
The mother body has pegged the cheapest ticket at US$5 while bays 15 to 18 would be going for US$20 and fans wishing to seat in the VIP tribune will have to fork out US$100.
Mashingaidze said Zifa, still battling for funding would not be issuing any complimentary tickets for this match and urged everyone to show their support to the Warriors cause by way of paying.
Online Reporter