Tournament puts Zim football facilities back under spotlight
THE hosting of the final of the AFCON tournament in Cameroon tomorrow should cast a new light on Zimbabwe who previously launched audacious bids to host the continental football showcase.
The Southern African nation came close to hosting the event in 2000, but lost the hosting rights at the 11th hour after CAF ruled that the country was behind schedule in preparing for the continental football showcase.
Since then, Zimbabwe have made similar bids in 2004, 2010 and 2017 but were unsuccessful. CAF usually do not take chances when choosing candidates for the biggest football event on the continent.
That is why Cameroon lost the rights to host the 2019 edition, which eventually went to Egypt. They were, however, given more time to prepare for the rescheduled 2021 edition since they had invested a fortune in preparations, unlike Zimbabwe who took a lackadaisical approach toward the 2000 event. Estimates showed Cameroon pumped in almost US$ 4 billion into infrastructure development. They built two new stadia, roads, and modern infrastructure to connect the six stadia that hosted the games.
The other four stadia have also been renovated to meet acceptable standards. The country also allocated a budget of XAF13 billion ( US$ 22,40 million) to facilitate the event’s organisation. In fact, the organisers had initially requested double that amount.
Hosting a tournament of such magnitude does not come cheap and usually the issue of infrastructure is non-negotiable. The host nation has to tick all the boxes in terms of established infrastructure that include modern stadia, training grounds, internet connectivity, road, rail and air transport networks that meet modern standards.
Zimbabwe failed the test when the 2000 AFCON hosting rights were revoked by CAF and given to West African countries Nigeria and Ghana to co-host the event.
The country had pinned hopes on the National Sports Stadium and Barbourfields while Rufaro, Ascot, Gwanzura and Sakubva were also earmarked for refurbishments to host the event.
Sadly, the pace of preparations was so slow that a CAF delegation that was dispatched to Harare for inspections did not deliver a good report when they returned to the CAF headquarters, describing Mutare’s Sakubva Stadium as “just a hip of sand”.
Again, Zimbabwe was one of the bidders for the 2004 tournament, which was given to Tunisia. The country had another shot for the 2010 event but was also unsuccessful.
After the failed 2010 bid, then Minister of Education, Sport and Culture minister David Coltart was positive about the possibility of
Zimbabwe sprucing up its facilities.
He announced that the government was looking at building two stadiums ahead of the 2015 bid, which however, never materialised. “As government we are in the process of facilitating for the hosting of the 2015 Nations Cup event. We need to build two more stadiums. You think we cannot do that between now and then? It’s possible. We can do that,” he said.
Zimbabwe reached out to CAF again for the 2017 event but the bid once again fell flat because of the same challenges which led to the cancellation of the 2000 rights – infrastructure.
Former Sports and Recreation Director General Charles Nhemachena, who also worked with the bid committee, at the moment said the disappointment was a wake-up call to the country regarding facilities and planning.
“As a country we have to move on and what we have learned from this episode is that we need to continually improve on the infrastructure that we have.
“This is a wake-up call. We need to start looking at hosting other tournaments like the Women’s Championships and the junior finals so that our facilities can improve.
“Obviously getting these tournaments has to go hand in glove with the facilities at our disposal. Even at that time when we were stripped of the rights of hoisting the 2000 AFCON finals, there were facilities we had dedicated for refurbishment but they were never completed once that opportunity was denied.”
But then it appears Zimbabwe’s sporting infrastructure was in a better position in 2000 than it is now, 22 years later. The stadiums have suffered further deterioration to the extent that CAF have banned even the hallowed National Stadium from hosting international games.
The Warriors will face the ignominy of playing their home games in the upcoming 2023 AFCON qualifiers on neutral venue if the refurbishments at the National Sports Stadium are not expedited.
The biggest question that has lingered for long, without talking of investing in new infrastructure, is the capacity to fund the refurbishment works at existing stadiums. Rufaro and Gwanzura are in a state of decay while many other grounds which used to host Premiership and Division One matches are now white elephants.
Government and the private sector need to think seriously about investing in sports infrastructure.
Cameroon, who had last hosted the AFCON tournament in 1972, are on the verge of delivering a successful event. Zimbabwe can do it too if stakeholders come together to save the sports infrastructure.