The ManicaPost
Ray Bande Senior Reporter
WORK to spruce up Sakubva Stadium is nearing completion as Mutare City Council fully utilises most of the Covid-19 lockdown period to meet the minimum required standards by the time the 2020 Castle Lager Premiership season finally gets underway.
The Zifa grounds inspection arm – First Instance Body (FIB) – made recommendations on areas that need attention at Sakubva Stadium when they recently conducted their first round of inspection around the country.
Vengere Stadium in Rusape is the only stadium in Manicaland that was homologated after that inspection.
When Post Sport visited the match venue this week, there were noticeable improvements on the state of the facility, with about 10 workmen going about their construction duties on site, while some were working on the turf.
Unlike in recent months when the stadium had literally been turned into a convenient picnic site for lovebirds from nearby Sakubva, access to the stadium is now limited following the completion of the construction of the precast wall.
A razor wire above the new precast wall has been put in place, right round the stadium.
Construction of the new changing rooms is now at ring beam level and roofing is expected anytime soon.
A new perimeter fence has since been put in place inside the stadium.
As per FIB recommendations, a tunnel was constructed and now awaits roofing.
However, the tunnel needs to be extended to the edge of the track and a rubber surface has to be placed on the sloppy cement surface for the safety of players as they walk onto the pitch.
Mutare City Council spokesperson Spren Mutiwi said they were carrying on with renovations at Sakubva Stadium with a skeleton staff given the President’s call to decongest workplaces.
“Sakubva Stadium’s construction work is ongoing, but we have reduced the number of personnel in view of the outstanding work and the need to decongest the workplace as a precautionary measure in fighting Covid-19.
“We are now focusing on roofing the changing rooms and the tunnel.
“We are still soldering on and our thrust is to ensure that the stadium is ready for use during the 2020 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season. There is great hope and expectation that the inspection team will appreciate the amount of investment poured into transforming Manicaland’s home of soccer and grant it the nod to host matches,” he said.
Mutiwi said even though the Covid-19 pandemic had slowed down their pace, the local authority was still hopful of impressing FIB on their next inspection.
“The global coronavirus pandemic has slowed down our pace, but we have not lost our focus. We are confident that the work we are doing will meet the expectations of the inspection committee.
“What we have achieved so far, in light of the macro-economic fundamentals, is highly commendable and the results are crystal clear for everyone to see,” he said.
The Mutare City Council publicist implored Manica Diamonds and Tenax FC – the two resident Castle Lager Premiership clubs for 2020 season – to chip in with any form of assistance to improve the state of the facility.
“We appeal to the Manicaland teams that are playing in the top-flight league to extend a hand and join the local authority in refurbishing Sakubva Stadium.
“As the ultimate beneficiaries of the facility, we are of the view that they can also plant a seed and assist in whatever means to expedite the outstanding work. We have covered a lot of ground with our own resources.
“Let us collectively turn this match venue into a better facility. Together we will go far,” he said.
To their credit, Mutare City Council has commendably left no stone unturned in a short space of time to finalise refurbishment works, both on the precast wall and the amenities inside the stadium.
The country’s football governing body, Zifa, will get an invitation from Mutare City Council for the final inspection of Sakubva Stadium once the local authority is satisfied with the renovations being done at the stadium.
Hopes are high that top-flight league football could be played at Sakubva Stadium this year, exactly three years after the Mutare match venue last hosted a Castle Lager Premiership match.
Sakubva Stadium was banned from hosting Premiership matches after the match venue was deemed unfit owing to its derelict state back then.
In a recent interview after their first inspection, Zifa spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela said: “We are only waiting to hear from Mutare City Council on the things that we said should be improved at Sakubva Stadium. When they are done, we will then come to Mutare to inspect the stadium.
“Some of the things that need attention include widening of the changing rooms and the media working area, levelling of the pitch, installation of turnstiles as well as erection of the perimeter fence and a tunnel.
“Generally, Mutare City Council has shown commitment judging by the way they have moved with pace to complete the construction of the precast wall. We hope they will be able to do the same to other important facilities within the stadium.”
Sakubva-based player manager, Donald ‘Kind Azurie’ Manhende, who is closely following renovations at Sakubva Stadium, commended Mutare City Council for their commitment.
However, he was quick to remind the local authority of the need to extend the tunnel to the track, extension of the VIP section as well as the need to include a rubber surface on the sloppy cement surface.
“I think Mutare City Council is doing a great job considering the prevailing economic conditions and their revenue flows,” Manhende said.
While Mutare grapples with rehabilitating its stadium to ensure it gets approval to host Premiership matches, it has been reported that the country’s stadia havebeen given up to June 15 to meet the required minimum CAF standards.
CAF inspectors recently struck all the country’s stadia off the roaster.
