By Nyasha Chuma
The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) has approved nine football stadia around the country to host Premier Soccer League matches despite all facilities falling short of Confederation of African Football standards.
ZIFA appeared to certify under protest, imploring government and municipal authorities to urgently attend to the country’s stadia which are a derelict state.
The country’s football governing body is caught between a rock and a hard place as not certifying the stadia will halt the running of the Premier Soccer League and by extension deprive hard-pressed footballers from earning a living.
“The meeting noted that most stadiums in the country were in a derelict state and appealed to Local authorities and the Government to renovate the stadiums in line with FIFA and CAF requirements,” ZIFA Communications officer Xolisani Gwesela said in a statement.
“Consequently, the following stadiums were provisionally homologated to host PSL matches:-a) Barbourfields, b) Luveve, c) Gibbo, d) Baobab, e) Nyamhunga, f) Ascot, g) Sakubva, h) Mandava, i) National Sports Stadium.”
This came after the ZIFA First Instance Body (FIB) of Club Licensing met on Tuesday and resolved to license all the 18 PSL clubs who applied for licenses to participate in the 2021-22 league season.
The elite men clubs were licensed in line with five criteria areas of Club Licensing which are sporting, personnel and administrative, financial, infrastructure and legal.
The PSL is finalising preparations for kick-off, which is expected to come a week after the Chibuku Super Cup quarter-finals next weekend.
As a result, Premier football is set to return after a two-year Covid-19 induced hiatus and clubs are already putting final touches to the preparations.
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