Building football stadia a top priority

FOOTBALL authorities must prioritise the construction of match venues in their work plans and enlist the assistance of Government, development partners and all other stakeholders to solve the issue.

World over, the football industry employs millions.

This means the sport is a means to fight poverty, as well as drug and substance abuse.

But can the game develop without the requisite facilities?

The answer is certainly a big no.

The country currently does not have a suitable match venue to host international competitive matches, and this is unacceptable for a progressive nation like ours.

This makes the construction of new stadia the biggest assignment at hand for those managing the game of football in the country.

Now that the country’s football fraternity is bracing for the 2024 Castle Lager Premiership season, our hope is that clubs will have adequate match venues to avoid congestion in the few stadia that meet the required standards.

Premier Soccer League president, Farai Jere, is on record emphasizing that the season needs an early start to prevent congestion. He also expressed hope for improved stadium availability.

Unlike last season, with two Harare-based teams relegated — Black Rhinos and Craneborne Bullets — Chegutu Pirates, now representing Mashonaland West, will utilise Baobab Stadium for their matches, while new entrants, Bikita Minerals FC who are still working on their own Lithium Stadium, may initially use Gibbo Stadium in Triangle.

The renovations at Lithium Stadium are a development in the right direction as it gives the youngsters in the area a platform to showcase their talent.

The same goes for the Billy Rautenbach-owned GreenFuel FC and their GreenFuel Stadium project that was approved to host top-flight league matches last year.

Elsewhere in this newspaper, we carry a story on Manica Diamonds FC’s return to Sakubva Stadium.

The renovation work carried out on the facility is a good development that should be emulated by all other local authorities that already have football match venues under their custody.

The sole Mutare-based top flight league outfit, Manica Diamonds, had to play their home matches more than 360km away in Triangle, while Eastern Region Division One teams had to settle for the insecure Mutare Showgrounds Sports Arena.

In a normal situation, football clubs in the country’s third biggest city should be choosing match venues, and not being forced to converge at one venue, where at times they have to quarrel on who has to play first.

In the same breath, we urge football clubs and their financiers to come to the party and start investing in stadia construction.

It would be so good to have Diamond Stadium, wholly owned by Manica Diamonds FC, and constructed by their financiers — the Zimbabwe Consolidated Company (ZCDC).

In developed countries, almost every other serious football club has a match venue of its own and this is the direction football in this country should be taking.

It is sad that we have clubs with a rich history like Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United that have produced numerous stars over decades of their existence, but up to this day the clubs still use rented home grounds.

Going into the future, we sincerely hope that shortage of football match venues in a country where the sport is widely followed should be addressed once and for all.

No doubt, football teams resident in big cities like Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare and Kwekwe should have options on which match venues to use.

This is the ideal situation for every serious football playing nation like ours.