The usual headache over standard venues to host topflight football has begun among some of the domestic clubs as the kickoff of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League draws closer.
With the 2025 season just under a month away, clubs and stadium owners are racing against time to get their venues ready for the matches.
There are some hopeless cases where clubs have already started scouting for alternative homes outside their localities.
In Harare, nothing much has changed from the previous season where five teams based in the capital have been scrambling for the two available venues.
The situation also looks uncertain for recently promoted sides Kwekwe United and MWOS, who are among the clubs yet to get confirmation as to where they will call home for the season.
Giants Dynamos, CAPS United, Herentals and Scottland are likely to take turns at Rufaro, while Yadah will enjoy the comfort of their Heart Stadium in Waterfalls.
MWOS, who assumed the promotion ticket from Southern Region after entering into a deal with ZPC Hwange, are not yet certain ahead of their debut season in the topflight league.
The new boys have started renovations at Ngoni Stadium, which has been their home since their days in the ZIFA Northern Region Division One.
MWOS secretary-general Anyway Kanyungwe told Zimpapers Sports Hub they had approached Ngezi Platinum Stars for Baobab Stadium as their Plan B.
“As of now, we are in the process of renovating Ngoni Stadium. We will issue an update next week (this week),” he said.
“The ZIFA First Instance Body (FIB) will be moving around the country in the coming weeks to inspect the stadiums to ascertain their fitness for topflight football.
“We are working on it so that by the time the games start, we will be able to meet the minimum standards. But as of now, we have Baobab as our alternative. We are still to get confirmation from Ngezi, though.”
Kwekwe United, who were promoted from the ZIFA Central Region, have ambitious plans to renovate Torwood Stadium, which has not hosted topflight games in over a decade.
Club president Phil Makekera is eager to make Torwood the club’s official home ground, although they are also looking to rent either Ascot Stadium or Bata Stadium in Gweru.
“We are working on Torwood to be our home ground. We are hoping that Torwood would be ready, barring any unforeseen challenges,” he said.
However, I should say for the first four home games maybe we will be using stadiums in Gweru, most likely Bata.”
Bikita Minerals will be making the road trips again this season for their home games.
Last year, they adopted Sakubva Stadium in Mutare, but this year they are looking forward to sharing Gibbo Stadium with Triangle, who have returned to the topflight league.
The Lithium Boys have long-term plans to develop their own stadium in Bikita.
“If everything goes according to plan, we should use Gibbo because it’s closer. Our fans will be able to come out in numbers, so Gibbo will be ideal for us,” said club secretary-general Collen Nikisi.
“We understand renovations have started at Gibbo, so we are confident that the stadium will be homologated. But in the event that it is not homologated, we will revert to Sakubva.”
Mucheke Stadium in Masvingo, while geographically closer, has been deemed unsuitable for competitive football due to its deteriorating state.
The recommendation to demolish and rebuild the stadium has left a dearth of options for the clubs in the area, further exacerbating the venue availability issues plaguing the Premier Soccer League
Stadiums that could host games this coming season are Rufaro, Heart, Wadzanai, Sakubva, Luveve, Bata, Ascot, GreenFuel Arena, Nyamhunga, Mandava, Barbourfields, Baobab and Gibbo.
Harare City Council-owned Rufaro has received a significant facelift and hosted most of the matches in Harare last season.
The stadium owners have taken advantage of the off-season to expedite bucket seats installation.
The council’s spokesperson, Stanley Gama, said they were looking to get the stadium to CAF-approved standards.
“The bucket seats installation is an ongoing process. So far, the progress has been encouraging,” he said. “The installation will continue even when the season has started. We are waiting for more bucket seats to come. We will be temporarily closing to the public from the areas that will be getting the facelift as and when the bucket seats arrive.
“We are working at the various facets of the stadium so that our stadium meets international standards.”
The Mutare City Council has plans to instal bucket seats at Sakubva, with town clerk Blessing Chafesuka saying they were forced to cancel a tender last year after receiving bloated bids.
“We had gone to tender to instal bucket seats at Sakubva Stadium, but the bids which we received were just outrageous,” he said. ‘‘Imagine being charged US$1 million for the installation of just 320 bucket seats for that small VIP section.
‘‘We felt it was way too exorbitant, and we had no choice but to cancel the tender and find an alternative way forward.”
The National Sports Stadium might not be available again this year as the renovations are taking longer than expected.
Contractors were busy refurbishing the water reticulation system as well as installing bucket seats when the Zimpapers Sports Hub visited the facility last week.
ZIFA president Nqobile Magwizi, whose company had been spearheading the rehabilitation, said the process had slowed down to allow CAF and FIFA inspectors to assess the quality of the work before proceeding.
“It’s a process, but we’re glad that the team is on the ground working,” he said. “But we just need the sign-off in terms of making sure that the project managers or the installations have been done according to the standards that are acceptable by CAF. The stadiums have to pass inspections.
“When that sign-off happens, then the next bit is getting all the seats installed and the stadium being ready.
“Of course, there are other aspects that are critical like the pitch, which again, there’s some help that is coming in. I think there are issues to do with the plumbing and the plumbing being attended to.
“Very, very important, those aspects. But critically, the big line item was, of course, the bucket seats. And that one, once it’s done, is the major one. And I believe all the other ones can quickly be resolved.”
PSL acting chief executive officer Rodwell Thabe was confident the existing stadiums will be ready for the season.
“We are confident that the facilities that we have will match the standards that are expected by the FIB. Our grounds right across the country have been worked on,” he said.
“Since last year, when we closed the season, renovations have been happening and we are very grateful to the Government, private players, the stadium owners and the councils that have undertaken a lot of work.
“It’s not easy to maintain these stadiums. But I think all our stakeholders have come on board and we are happy with the state of the pitch.
“We must have improvements here and there but all in all, given the club licensing requirements that we are to fulfil now, I am confident that at least we will meet the minimum standards that are required.”
Sports and Recreation acting director-general Sebastian Garikai commended the efforts, but implored private partners to collaborate with stadium owners.
“The SRC and ZIFA, through the FIB, work closely to make sure that we achieve this. But it takes far much more than SRC and ZIFA alone to make sure that we’ve got adequate facilities and infrastructure for football in this country,” he said.
“So, within the other provinces, looking at the devolution thrust and looking at private-public partnerships, we are confident that with good leadership coming out of ZIFA, we will get partners also coming in and providing facilities.”
Sunday Mail (C)