Harare City Council has failed football fans

THE second round of matches in the 2024 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League campaign get underway this afternoon, with games lined up across the country.

It will be a historic afternoon for the Shamva football community as they will witness Premier Soccer League action for the first time ever at Wadzanai Stadium after the venue was approved by Zifa’s First Instance Board.

Simba Bhora were forced to play all their matches away from the venue they had used ruthlessly on their way to gaining promotion from the Zifa Northern Region Division One league.

The Simba Bhora leadership worked together with the community and the local authority to satisfy the minimum requirements for hosting Premiership matches.

There are a lot more areas that need attention at the venue but as a longterm project. What they needed was to attend to the key areas to meet the minimum requirements for the FIB.

They got the playing surface into perfect condition, acquired bucket seats for part of the stadium, attended to the changing rooms, ablution facilities and turnstiles.

A look at the stadium shows that there was nothing out of this world that was done and now that Simba Bhora intend to build a clubhouse among other projects, we might then see more complicated structures at the venue.

Manica Diamonds will be using Sakubva for their home matches after playing all their matches outside of Mutare during the 2023 season.

Sakubva passed the test and was approved to host Premiership matches just before the start of the season and that is why Manica Diamonds were able to host their opening match against Simba Bhora there this past weekend.

Just like Wadzanai in Shamva, the upgrade at Sakubva focused primarily on the key areas that would need attention to convince the FIB.

Mutare City Council put all their focus on putting a new lawn and installed a proper drainage system as per the set guidelines.

Crucially, the local authority said: “One step, One day at a time, We are making good progress.”

They were giving an update on the progress at the stadium in January.

In Chisumbanje, Greenfuel managed to convince the FIB late last season and their home venue was approved in time to allow them a couple of matches that helped secure survival in the Premiership in their debut season.

Again, just like Wadzanai in Shamva, the Greenfuel Arena met the basic requirements and the facility owners did not have to break the bank to satisfy the football authorities.

Now they can take their time to make the venue better but without any pressure of doing so as they are already approved and any more works will be an upgrade.

In Gweru, the Bata stadium also met the minimum requirements and became good enough to even host CAPS United from Harare.

There are other venues that have passed the FIB test without looking exceptional, including Nyamhunga in Kariba, Luveve in Bulawayo, Gibbo in Triangle and the Colliery in Hwange.

There is nothing exceptional about these venues but they satisfy the minimum requirements.

That is why there is no excuse for Harare City Council that Rufaro is still unavailable for Premiership matches despite the local authority working on the venue for three years now.

For all the noise they have made, especially Mayor Jacob Mafume, there is nothing progressive about their work at Rufaro.

It is just a matter of not getting priorities right.

Last year they prioritised making a beautiful car park yet the minimum requirements to get the venue approved, including dressing rooms and toilets, were not being met.

What use is the classy car park if there are no cars to turn up at Rufaro when there are no matches?

Mafume even had a plaque installed at Rufaro in August last year to signal the venue’s official re-opening yet they had not attended to what the FIB specified.

In a statement on the first week of August last year, Harare city council said: “The commissioning of Rufaro stadium, currently undergoing refurbishment, specifically to fit FIFA expectations, has been postponed to Thursday.”

Nine months later, the venue is still struggling to meet the minimum FIB requirements and the council has not invited the FIB to make an assessment as key renovations, including ablution facilities, have been ongoing.

Last month, Mafume even wanted a challenge match between Dynamos and CAPS United as a way of celebrating the venue’s return but up to now they still haven’t done enough to meet the minimum requirements.

Mafume keeps inviting Dynamos and CAPS United officials to Rufaro stadium instead of the FIB, who know what is needed for Premiership football to return to the “home of football”.

Harare has more sources of funding but Mafume and his team have failed, in three years now, to do what Simba Bhora and the Shamva community achieved in just one year.

To Harare football fans, this is a monumental failure.