CAF Upheld Its Ban On Zim stadiums
The Confederation of African Football has upheld its ban on all local stadiums from hosting senior men’s teams’ international matches.
In the latest report released by CAF, the country is among twenty-five nations on the continent that will not host the games on home soil due to poor standards of their grounds.
The National Sports Stadium, which had hosted the country’s international games before, was banned in 2021 after the Warriors’ 2022 World Cup Qualifiers. The Harare venue still has red flags on several areas that require urgent attention for the stadium to meet required standards.
These include:
1. Individual seats in the stadium There should be fixed seats in all sectors of the stadium. Seats for spectators must be individual, fixed (e.g. to the floor), separated from one another, shaped, numbered, made of an unbreakable and non-flammable material, and have a backrest of a minimum height of thirty (30) cm when measured from the seat.
2. Electronic Turnstiles The stadium should be equipped with modern electronic turnstiles and automated systems.
3. Venue Operations Centre (VOC) The stadium must have a functional Venue Operations Centre (VOC) with a good overview of the stadium equipped with CCTV monitors. It should have an override capability over the Public Address System in case of emergency announcements. The VOC should be staffed and serve as the command centre for security and safety operations.
4. Renovation of B – Arena The B Arena of the stadium should be renovated in line with CAF Training field infrastructure requirements. Other facilities in the stadium are still not up to the required CAF standard. The stadium needs to be fully modernized and brought up to the international standard requirements.
