Story by Lawrence Trusida
ZIMBABWE’S biggest sports facility, the National Sports Stadium could finally get a facelift as there are indications that all background work has been done and authorities are waiting for government funding for actual work to begin.
The National Sports Stadium was condemned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) more than three years ago after it failed to meet the required minimum standards.
In some instances the stadium was used, CAF was just issuing out waivers to use the facility as it lacked bucket seats and electronic access points among other key infrastructure.
Minor renovations were done four years ago which saw the creation of a media centre and the stadium control centre, but since then, no meaningful progress has been made on the ground.
However, the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC), which has custodial powers over the facility, indicated that work is being done in the background.
“What everyone wants to see is the actual bucket seats in the ground, but we can tell you that after a long process we were granted powers for direct procurement and we engaged a consultant to do that and all the budgets have now gone to treasury, so now we are only waiting for the funds to be availed and the works can begin, remember the money is there it was actually in the budget,” said SRC chairperson, Gerald Mlotshwa.
The improvement of the stadium will see the country being able to host international matches again when the FIFA suspension is lifted.
