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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Confederation of African Football (Caf) has condemned the National Sports Stadium for not meeting required standards and banned it from hosting senior teams’ international matches as well as Caf club competitions.

Following an inspection conducted by Caf’s representative Tshegofatso Moila on October 13 and 14, next month’s Group G World Cup qualifier against Ethiopia will be the last encounter to be played at the National Sports Stadium until outstanding issues are addressed.

Zimbabwe plays Ethiopia on November 14. In May, Caf provisionally homologated the National Sports Stadium to host the World Cup qualifiers, a temporary reprieve that was meant to afford authorities time to address outstanding issues, which include erecting bucket seats.

In granting the last temporary approval that saw Zimbabwe take on South Africa and Ghana at the venue, Caf used inspection reports provided by Zifa.

FC Platinum also used the facility for their ill-fated Caf Champions League campaign where they were knocked out in the first-round.

The urgent areas of concern that need to be addressed at the National Sports Stadium include erection of individual seats (bucket seats) fixed to the floor and numbered.

According to the report, the seats must be made of an unbreakable and non-flammable material.

Deputy Minister Tino Machakaire

They must have a backrest of a minimum height of 30cm when measured from the seat.

Caf said the stadium should be equipped with modern electronic turnstiles and automated systems.

The stadium owners must install 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 a command centre for security and safety operations.

The Caf inspector also condemned the B-Arena, adding that it needs to be renovated in line with Caf training field infrastructure requirements.

Zifa said it had informed the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) on the latest Caf communication, which also states that other facilities in the stadium are still not up to required Caf standards.

Zifa communications and competitions manager Xolisani Gwesela last week said Zimbabwe has a “stadium crisis” that requires local authorities and the Government to address.

Government has been working on upgrading the National Sports Stadium.

Deputy Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Tino Machakaire is on record saying authorities were working flat out to address outstanding requirements at the venue.

He indicated that bucket seats would be supplied from local sources. — @ZililoR