DeMbare seek Rufaro clearance
By Mugove Chigada
After suffering a 4-1 defeat to USM Alger in Algeria and waving goodbye to CAF Champions league, CAPS United now turn to domestic action starting with the Harare derby.
The Dynamos challenge may not be the match CAPS United needed when they are still licking their wounds but their opponents insist it is the right time.
Secretary general Webster Marechera thinks this will be a battle on a level playing field when both teams have nothing much to worry about.
“Both teams probably have all their players available and we believe it will be a fair battle to play now that outstanding match. We are looking forward to it,” said Marechera.
The Harare derby should have been played way back but lack of a suitable venue to play the game forced it to be postponed. The National Sports Stadium had been booked for a church conference.
The derby is provisionally set for National Sports Stadium on Sunday but yesterday Dynamos were trying to get clearance to host the match at Rufaro.
“The issue of using Rufaro is upto the grounds committee and the city council. We will be checking on that though PSL indicated that the match is at National Sports. And we also have to agree as a club before changing a position.
“But naturally for other league matches, Rufaro is our first home option. Once the stadium is cleared, we will be playing our matches there because that is our home,” said Marechera.
H-Metro understands that though Dynamos want to move to Rufaro for their home matches, they are having second thoughts about hosting the derby at the same venue.
Rufaro offers a security headache though they will be guaranteed a full house for a match likely to be charged US$5 for the rest the ground.
There is also concern at Dynamos that CAPS United could play better at the giant stadium than Rufaro, giving Lloyd Chitembwe’s charges the advantage as they seek to collect as much points as they can from the outstanding matches.
Club president Kenny Mubaiwa also confirmed that they were still seeking clearance on availability of Rufaro.
“We will hear from city council to see if the stadium is also available now,” he said.
This will be the first of three games in eight days for CAPS United as seek to catch up with the rest of the teams. H Metro
