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Cheetahs players pose with the Kwese Sevens Trophy

Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls
ZIMBABWE Rugby Union (ZRU) has approached the Victoria Falls Town Council for land to build a permanent rugby stadium in the resort town.

This follows the inaugural Kwese Sports Victoria Falls Sevens rugby tournament that was won by the Cheetahs, who beat Namibia 24-7 in the final.

The tournament, which featured four nations, including Zimbabwe, will be staged in Victoria Falls for the next five years, as organisers want to develop the game in the resort town to attract international events and clubs.

ZRU president Nyararai Sibanda said engagements with council were at an advanced stage to acquire land for the ground.

“We have engaged the council and had a positive response. We want to have a stadium, but this won’t be next year because courting partners is a process,” said Sibanda.

He said ZRU would spearhead the project with the help of partners, while a trust will also be established, as the union wants to build a legacy in the resort town.

Victoria Falls is usually quiet in terms of sport, with the Victoria Falls Marathon, ironically sponsored by Econet, the mother company to Kwese Sport, the only major sporting event on the calendar.

If the ZRU plans succeed, this would put the resort town on the world map and maybe attract the rugby world.

Similar plans have also been mooted by Zimbabwe Cricket, which was allocated land in the industrial area to build a 10 000-seater stadium, although the plans have been put on hold due to lack of funding.

There are plans to move the Kwese Sports Sevens Rugby event to the Elephant Hills Grounds where there is a soccer pitch wider than the one at Victoria Falls Primary School.

Sibanda said this would be decided by a committee that will sit in April to deliberate on the matter.

Victoria Falls town clerk Ronnie Dube recently told a full council meeting that the local authority would start projects of rehabilitating and developing sporting facilities so that the resort town can also grow its sport tourism potential.

@ncubeleon