Zimbabwe: Harare Stadium Conundrum Nears Solution as Rufaro Eyes Return in Time for 2024 Season

HARARE City Council (HCC) hopes for the return of football at Rufaro Stadium with indications that the ceremonial home of football will be ready to host Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) matches this season.

Rufaro Stadium has been under renovations since last year to give the neglected football facility a face-lift.

The closure of Rufaro, which last hosted top-flight football in 2019, has created a stadia conundrum in Harare forcing all teams to use the National Sports Stadium.

Wednesday, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume met with the committee tasked with overseeing the Stadium renovations readying for the PSL season which will get underway next month.

In a statement, Mafume tasked the committee to speed up renovations with a Mayor’s Cup encounter scheduled between Dynamos and CAPS United set to officially reopen the stadium.

“His Worship the Mayor Councillor Jacob Mafume today (Wednesday) held a meeting with the committee tasked with renovations taking place at Rufaro Stadium. It was a meeting to take stock of the current status of the stadium and what needs to be done before the start of the Castle Premier League season next month.

“The mayor urged the engineers to make sure they speed up renovations so that the stadium will be ready to initially host the proposed Mayor’s Challenge Cup match between bitter city rivals Dynamos and CAPS United,” said the City of Harare.

Last year, the City council failed to meet numerous deadlines for the renovation’s completion.

Rufaro had been left with the installation of electronic turnstiles and the renovation of one dressing room and a media area.

The Stadium will be subject to the approval of the Zimbabwe Football Association’s (ZIFA) First Instance Board for it to host matches.