ZIFA has made the decision to temporarily suspend Walter Magaya’s Heart Stadium from hosting top-flight league games due to the lack of proper ablution facilities.
Heart Stadium has not had public restrooms since its homologation in March. Instead, it has hired mobile restrooms, which proved insufficient during game days.
The host team Yadah will now play its home games at Rufaro Stadium due to the temporary suspension. Due to this modification, the home games of the four Harare-based top-flight league teams will only be played at Rufaro Stadium.
This change is made in front of Yadah’s next game, which will now take place at Rufaro Stadium on Saturday against CAPS United.
The stadium issue draws attention to one of Zimbabwe’s most pressing issues, since the nation does not yet have a CAF-approved stadium fit for hosting international football matches.
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In another story, Yadah founder and president, Prophet Walter Magaya, has acknowledged feeling stressed due to the stadium crisis in Zimbabwe. All stadiums in the country have been prohibited from hosting international matches, leading to the Warriors ‘hosting’ Nigeria in last year’s World Cup qualifier in Rwanda.
Zimbabwe’s representatives in CAF’s inter-club competitions, Ngezi Platinum Stars (Champions League) and Dynamos (Confederation Cup), also face the prospect of playing their home matches outside Zimbabwe in their respective tournaments.
Magaya, who is working to ensure that his recently-commissioned The Heart Stadium meets CAF requirements, expressed his concerns about the stadium crisis, stating that it is causing him sleepless nights. He mentioned that a small effort is required to meet the necessary standards to host these games…read in full
