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Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
RENOVATIONS at Rufaro stadium have made significant progress but the facility would need more time before opening doors to Premiership football as there is still a lot of work to be done.
Harare City Council, who are the owners of the stadium, yesterday said they were looking to hand over the facility to the domestic football authorities by July 24, which is less than 10 days now.
But a tour of the stadium indicated more time could be needed to meet the minimum requirements by both ZIFA and CAF.
A Premier Soccer League delegation, which included the organisation’s chairman Farai Jere, chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele and PSL marketing manager Rodwell Thabe, yesterday toured the ceremonial home of Zimbabwean football to get a better appreciation of the progress, at the invitation of Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume.
ZIFA chief operations officer Xolisani Gwesela, who is also the chairman of the stadium inspection committee, the First Instance Body, was also part of the tour.
The turf at Rufaro is looking lush green and the drainage system, as well as expanded changing rooms, are now nearing completion. Work outside the stadium has also gone a gear up with paving at the car-park almost complete.
But the turnstiles and the procurement of the bucket seats, which are some of the major requirements by CAF, are yet to be done. Still, Ndebele was encouraged by the progress in the other areas.
“We are very happy with the progress. As you can see the playing surface is looking very good. The works that are being done to the dressing rooms – the expansion – it looks like we will be back to have football matches here in Harare,” said Ndebele.
The PSL has faced a stadium crisis in Harare. Following the unavailability of the National Sports Stadium for maintenance work, the six teams based in the capital have been forced to look for alternative home grounds in other cities and towns.
Giants Dynamos and CAPS United have found temporary shelter at Barbourfields. Ndebele yesterday said they were praying for the quick reopening of Rufaro, to ease the burden on their clubs.
The ground has been closed to topflight football for four years after it failed to meet minimum requirements.
“First of all football is for the fans. The fans have been starved of football. They want to watch their local football at home, so it has really been very difficult for them.
“Secondly for us, having a city with six clubs playing away from their home base has been creating a challenge.
“Obviously, it is also draining their finances to travel every week and we are also worried that the overuse of the other stadiums may lead to the same problem that we had with the National Sports Stadium.
“So, we are looking forward to Rufaro Stadium, which is the home of football, to host matches as soon as possible,” said Ndebele.
ZIFA chief operations officer Gwesela said FIFA and CAF were not compromising on the quality of stadiums.
“The issue of stadiums is a crisis. We currently don’t have a stadium to host Premiers Soccer League matches in Harare and we don’t have a stadium to host international matches in the country. So the passion from the Harare City Council is well appreciated.
“The CAF requirements are a bit stringent. In order for us to host international matches we need to have individual seats; the pitch has quite improved, the gates should be electronic, there should be acceptable media facilities, we should have a media centre, a media tribune, a press conference room; we should have areas that are adaptable for television broadcasting.
“The parking area should be improved. The mayor has already indicated that the parking area has improved. So, the areas that need immediate attention for us to host international matches is the issue of bucket seats. Otherwise, all other areas are achievable,” said Gwesela.
Rufaro is not the only stadium that has failed the inspection tests as Sakubva in Mutare, Gwanzura and Rusape’s Vhengere are some of the venues which used to host Premiership matches and have been waved down.
“We have always appealed to the local authorities to ensure that these stadiums are well improved. You reckon that some of these stadiums were built well before independence.
“The equipment and the infrastructure is obsolete. We encourage local authorities to improve the stadiums. We have always encouraged them to venture into public–private partnerships to ensure that if they don’t have enough revenue, they can tap into the PPPs to improve the stadium,” said Gwesela.
Harare mayor Mafume said he was determined to make Rufaro functional in the shortest possible time.
“We are trying to create a world class, rolling pitch that will satisfy every soccer lover,” said Mafume.
“The changing room deck has been finished and very soon the support pillars will be removed and the work on the plumbing, electrical and internal fittings will be done. We already have a contractor doing the work off-site so that they can just fit in in time for the deadline.
“So, we are quite happy with the progress, and we are looking now into the issue of the phased approach on bucket seats, and for the first time after four years, electricity is now connected at Rufaro.
“Everything is going according to plan. It may not be exactly according to schedule, but we believe that the workmanship and the delay required that we take our time and be a bit more patient. But what I can assure the fans is that football is coming back to Harare,” he said.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter