The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has banned Zimbabwe from using the National Sports Stadium.
This decree comes after the National Sports Stadium underwent inspection last week. The Zimbabwe Football fraternity has however been given temporary approval which will expire in November after the final World Cup Qualifier against Ethiopia.
In a statement, the Zimbabwe Football Association announced that Zimbabwe has been barred from hosting international matches for club and country. According to the media statement, despite repeated warnings by CAF, Zimbabwe has failed to upgrade its stadiums to meet international standards.
Here is a list of areas that need to be attended to by the Football fraternity in order for the ban to be lifted.
1.Individual seats in the stadium
There should be fixed seats in all sectors of the stadium. Seats for spectators must be individual, fixed (e.g. to the floor), separated from one another, shaped, numbered, made of an unbreakable and non-flammable material, and have a backrest of a minimum height of thirty (30) cm when measured from the seat.
2.Electronic Turnstiles
The stadium should be equipped with modern electronic turnstiles and automated systems.
3.Venue Operations Centre (VOC)
The stadium must have 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 the command centre for security and safety operations.
4.Renovation of B – Arena
The B Arena of the stadium should be renovated in line with CAF Training field infrastructure requirements.
5.Other facilities in the stadium are still not up to the required CAF standard. The stadium needs to be fully modernized and brought up to the international standard requirements.
Below is the full statement
