Spread This NewsBy Darlington GatsiGOVERNMENT is racing against time to complete the renovation of the National Sports Stadium, with doubts growing over whether the Zimbabwe national team will play their remaining World Cup qualifiers on home soil.The stadium has been undergoing renovations after being deemed unfit to host international matches in 2021 by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).As a result, Zimbabwe’s national teams have been forced to play outside the country due to the lack of suitable football facilities at home.However, hopes were raised when Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Anselem Sanyatwe and Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) president Nqobile Magwizi vowed that the senior men’s national team would play their home games at the stadium this year.Those hopes were dampened when Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube revealed in his Mid-term Budget Review statement in Parliament on Thursday that work on the pitch was less than halfway complete.“Subsequent to the ban of the National Sports Stadium from hosting international matches by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for failing to meet the required international standards, owing to several infrastructure issues, government embarked on the refurbishment of the stadium with the following notable achievements having been realised:“Installation of bucket seats, now at 90% level of completion; Reconstruction works on turf is underway with old turf dug out in preparation of laying a new turf. Works are currently at 40% level of completion; Completion of the installation of turnstiles at gate 1 entrance; Completion of the cabling and tubing for the venue operating systems; and The restoration of the water reticulation system is in progress,” said Ncube.The Warriors are scheduled to play Benin on September 1 before hosting Rwanda seven days later.However, Zimbabwe now faces the possibility of hosting Rwanda outside the country, with South Africa, which has effectively become the team’s “home” base, reportedly being considered as the venue.With renovations progressing slowly, Zimbabwe’s World Cup qualifying campaign could conclude without a single home match. Their final home fixture in the qualifiers is against South Africa on October 6.

Originally published on New Zimbabwe

Source: Newzimbabwe

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