The Harare City Council (HCC) will not lease Rufaro Stadium to Dynamos after the municipality decided against giving control of the venue to one club.

The Glamour Boys, backed by their principal sponsors Sakunda Holdings, applied to get the iconic facility on a long-term basis.

The HCC initially agreed to lease the stadium but according to a latest claim, the deal will not happen.

The council now wants to partner with corporates in upgrading the ground in exchange for naming rights.

HCC spokesperson, Michael Chideme revealed the news on The Couch show as cited by the Herald.

He said: “It’s very clear here, as a council, we are saying we have only three football stadiums, that is Rufaro, Gwanzura and Dzivarasekwa. If we can lease these stadiums to only three clubs for example, where will the other teams play?

“These clubs are coming through some companies and we are saying those companies should come directly to us (for partnerships).”

He added: “Those companies should come and discuss with us so that if they are to spruce up the stadiums, they will do so to the benefit of everyone because look, it is not only the supporters of one team who buy from a certain company. So we are saying those partnerships should benefit everyone in a way.

“It will be in the best interest of these companies to benefit the whole community. Besides, these stadiums are what we also use, as council, as collateral when we want to borrow money from different organisations. If we give away our collateral, it means we are shooting ourselves in the foot, so to say.”

The development sees the HCC making a u-turn on selling their stadiums’ naming rights.

Eight years ago, the municipality refused a USD10m deal with Savanna Tobacco for Rufaro Stadium.

The council also turned away an approach from another private investor who wanted to renovate the venue to modern standards in exchange of naming rights.