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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO faces the possibility of not staging international football and athletics competitions after the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) yesterday condemned White City Stadium, six years after the facility played host to a regional athletics meet.

According to Naaz president Tendai Tagara, White City Stadium cannot be certified by World Athletics because it does not have a tartan track despite having a standard athletics track.

The facility played host to the 2014 African Union Sports Council Region 5 Under-20 Games and saw the tartan track only being put on the 100-metre stretch.

The stadium underwent massive refurbishment ahead of the 2014 Ausc Games that saw state of the art electronic timing devices, a VIP area and a giant monitor being installed, but contractors failed to meet the deadline for the completion, leaving only a 100m stretch meeting World Athletics standards.

“You know the status of the White City track so we cannot dream of a certification. The track, however, is standard,” said Tagara.

Last year an expert from World Athletics told Chronicle Sport that Zimbabwe had no certified athletics track, with the National Sports Stadium last certified ahead of the 1995 All-Africa Games that were held in Zimbabwe.

Tagara said they have since requested the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) to also look at the athletics track in renovations taking place at the NSS.

“As the National Sports Stadium is being renovated, we have also asked the SRC to consider athletics. The stadium has broken areas (of the tartan),” said Tagara.

According to the World Athletics expert, they received correspondence concerning White City Stadium track, but there was no further communication from Zimbabwe authorities.

The red flag on White City Stadium comes following a similar stance on Barbourfields Stadium by Caf inspectors, meaning the venue cannot play host to the senior men’s national team games unless massive refurbishment work is undertaken.

If an athletics track is not certified by World Athletics, all times recorded at the facility will not be recognised and can therefore not be used as qualifying standard for regional or international competitions.