Zifa boss admits engaging SAFA over stadium for Warriors game

Acting ZIFA vice president Philemon Machana has confirmed that they have been engaging SAFA to prepare a stadium for the Warriors for the Afcon qualifier against Algeria.

The local body was last month banned from hosting any international game in Zimbabwe due to the poor state of the stadiums.

Efforts are being made to renovate Barbourfields and the National Sport Stadium with a hope CAF could rescind its decision and allow the country to host the encounter on home soil.

But ZIFA, on the flip side, has also been in contact with their South African counterparts to prepare an alternative venue as a fall-back plan in case CAF refuse to honour the request.

“We are still hopeful that something can still happen and we can have that game played in Bulawayo, but we had told SAFA to provisionally prepare Dobsonville as a fall-back position as we also planned for the worst,” Machana said, as quoted by Sunday Mail.

“All efforts are still being made by all stakeholders, led by Government, to have the game here and we must all keep working.

“Elsewhere, CAF have given rights to host where stadiums have not been built and those rights were given based on government guarantees, and in our case, Government is spearheading the refurbishment apart from also having given their guarantees.”

Initially, ZIFA wanted to use Orlando Stadium but it now points out to 24 000-sitter Dobsonville in the same city of Jo’burg.

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