Council to renovate Ascot Stadium

GWERU City Council has announced plans to renovate Ascot Stadium to a state of the art facility.

A full council meeting held on Tuesday resolved that the local authority dispatch a team to Zvishavane to tour Mandava Stadium with a view to coming up with a similar facility.

Gweru mayor Charles Chikozho confirmed the development, but was mum on how council would fund the renovations.

“We have taken a position that Ascot Stadium should be renovated and in that regard we are going to send a team to Zvishavane to tour Mandava Stadium so that they have an appreciation of what needs to be done if we are to have a similar facility. We want to have a state of the art facility which matches the status of a city like Gweru,” said Chikozho.

Council unveiled a $38 million budget for next year, but is silent on funds to refurbish Ascot Stadium.

The plans by the local authority come as the local game is vigorously implementing the Fifa Club Licensing System whereby minimum standards have been set for, among other things, minimum stadium requirements and coaches’ qualifications.

The Premier Soccer League has announced that it will be strict on the Fifa Club Licensing system next season, and this includes condemning stadia which do not meet the minimum standards.

Ascot Stadium currently does not meet the standards under the Fifa Club Licensing system.

The system also looks at stadium safety, the treatment of fans and youth football development.

It also implores clubs to be more transparent about ownership and allow independent auditing of finances. — @lavuzigara1