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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter

BULAWAYO residents and football fans have reacted angrily at Caf’s decision to ban Barbourfields Stadium from hosting international matches, blaming both Zifa and the local authority for “sleeping” on the job.

Caf added Barbourfields to the list of banned venues that don’t meet Fifa requirements after it had provisionally been cleared to host international matches during an inspection conducted in November last year.

The National Sports Stadium and Mandava Stadium were outrightly condemned following the inspection.

Thembelani Batshwayi-Dube, Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) secretary for administration, took a swipe at council for its failure to prioritise sports facilities.

“We are very disappointed as residents by the laxity of BCC and everyone involved in the development of football grounds in the city and Zimbabwe at large. The recommendations were made on time. Why they didn’t attend to the areas pointed out boggles the mind. The councillors should have acted timeously to ordered managemen to attend to the shortcomings listed by Caf inspectors,” said Batshwayi-Dube.

Zimbabwe National Soccer Supporters Association (ZNSSA) secretary for the Southern Region Trust Jim lashed out at Zifa.

“This is just a tip of the iceberg. (Zifa president) Felton Kamambo and his executive have failed dismally. They should have had constant communication with Bulawayo City Council and if need be, take those Fifa funds and spruce up Barbourfields since it was the only stadium remaining. I think the Zifa guys just want to travel outside the country for Warriors’ matches hence they were quick to say they are looking for an alternative venue in neighbouring countries instead of fixing Barbourfields. They want allowances and playing outside the country presents them an opportunity to pay themselves hefty allowances,” Jim said. 

“We are bitter as fans because we’ll miss an opportunity to watch the Warriors in Bulawayo. We are tired of being made second class citizens with even dead rubber games being taken to Harare. We haven’t forgotten that they took the Botswana game to Harare and said Barbourfields didn’t have floodlights yet they are working. We are tired of Zifa’s lies and want to watch competitive games in Bulawayo.”

A football fan Ndumiso Phiri said it’s sad that BCC hasn’t invested in stadiums in the city.

“We may not host big matches often, but when that opportunity comes, the city benefits massively from the visitors and businesses in the city gain. Council needs to invest by upgrading the stadiums using funds from hiring out the venue and percentage of revenue it receives from each game,” said Phiri.

He said it was disturbing that no new football stadium had been built in Bulawayo since 1980. 

Kudakwashe Gumbo lamented local authorities’ lackadaisical approach to general infrastructure development.

“We were stripped of the right to host Afcon 20 years ago because of the same infrastructure problems. It’s sad that 20 years down the line, we are still caught in the same predicament. This is more than football ladies and gentleman,” Gumbo said.

Zwelethu Nkomo said: “I have got a feeling that some people were not happy that Barbourfields was the only one given the greenlight to host international games. Maybe they went out of their way to have Barbourfields banned. Our hope is that the Government will intervene and save us.” — @ZililoR