Sports and Recreation Commission chairman Gerald Mlotshwa has revealed that the background work of renovating the National Sports Stadium have begun.

The Harare venue was condemned by CAF and blocked from hosting international matches until the upgrade is done to meet minium requirements.

The SRC which has custodial powers over the facility, has indicated that the background work has already been done and authorities are now waiting for government funding for actual work to begin.

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“What everyone wants to see is the actual bucket seats in the ground, but we can tell you that after a long process we were granted powers for direct procurement and we engaged a consultant to do that and all the budgets have now gone to treasury, so now we are only waiting for the funds to be availed and the works can begin, remember the money is there it was actually in the budget,” said Mlotshwa, as cited by the ZBC News. 

The Harare venue will get a share from the ZW$1,2 billion set aside for refurbishment national sports facilities following the presentation of the 2023 National Budget.

The renovations will see the country being able to host international matches again when the FIFA suspension is lifted.

According to CAF, the stadium needs urgent attention on several areas to meet required standards.

Some areas include installation of bucket seats and electronic turnstiles, setting up a functional Venue Operations Centre (VOC) and renovation of B – Arena.