HARARE – Hopes that Zimbabwe will play home matches in the country still hang by a thread with authorities conceding on Wednesday that bucket seats and electronic turnstiles will not be in place before an impending CAF inspection slated for June.
Zimbabwe has been told to bring its football stadia in line with set standards, which include bucket seats and electronic turnstiles, or forget about hosting international football matches.
Once work on the recommended fixes is complete, the Zimbabwe Football Association will invite CAF to conduct an inspection between June 15 and July 15 to determine whether or not the country will play the senior men’s competitions at home.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a tour of the National Sports Stadium (NSS) on Wednesday, sports minister Kirsty Coventry said she was happy with refurbishments done to the dressing rooms, pitch and the media centre.
She, however, admitted that bucket seats and electronic access controls will not be completed in any of the country’s stadia because of coronavirus-related travel and import challenges.
Coventry, a former Olympic gold medalist who was appointed minister in 2018, insisted that Zimbabwe would be given a reprieve on the outstanding items.
It was not clear what informed the minister’s opinion. Recent communications between ZIFA and CAF have no mention of a reprieve. In fact, CAF indicated that all recommendations have to be satisfied without omission within the given time-frame.
“The two things we are working on is the procurement of the bucket seats, which is something CAF and FIFA (recommended). What we have decided is that because they will be needed in all the stadiums, we have decided to do one big procurement because it’s more cost effective,” Coventry said.
“Obviously, we all know with the covid-19 there has been a lot of backups in China and that’s where most would procure the kind of bucket seats that we would need. So that has all been explained to ZIFA, CAF and FIFA and my understanding is that they are all understanding that bucket seats may not be in by inspection but procurement will be ready by then to show that they will be in-time for games,” Coventry added.
Government intends to install bucket seats at NSS, Rufaro Stadium, Sakubva Stadium and Barbourfieds Stadium.
Royal Harare Golf Club has played a key role by lending machines and technical support to ensure the National Sports Stadium meets international standards, Coventry noted on Wednesday. The golf club occupies a sizeable property just next door to Zimbabwe House.
