From Huye to Orlando Stadium; homeless Warriors to host Lesotho in SA

The ‘homeless’ Zimbabwe national team is set to host Lesotho at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa in their upcoming World Cup qualifier that is scheduled for 7 June.

This was revealed in a poster shared by the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) on their social media platforms.

The use of Orlando Stadium comes six months after the Warriors used Huye Stadium in Rwanda as their homeground when they played Nigeria.

Zimbabwe currently has no stadium to host international matches after the National Sports Stadium in Harare was condemned by the continental football mother body, CAF some few years ago.

CAF requires Zimbabwe to refurbish its stadiums to host international matches.

Some of the CAF requirements include installation of bucket seats, electronic turnstiles, a Venue Operations Centre (VOC) and renovation of the B-Arena.

The sporting facilities have become an eyesore following neglection by the government and the municipality.

This ‘pathetic and humiliating’ hosting of Lesotho across Limpopo comes at a time when Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry recently promised the nation that the Warriors will play June World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe.

“I do believe our next game is in June and we had set the target of April, so if it’s June, it gives us a little bit of leeway but I expect that things are done and CAF is back to Zimbabwe to visit before April.

“Those are the time-lines I can share with you right now because I am bound by the MoUs I signed and I have to be as respectful as I can to those private companies that have come forward to offer financial assistance,” she told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee in February.

Following her remarks, Coventry was blasted via X (Twitter) by the former Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere who accused her for “misleading the nation about the progress of renovations at the National Sports Stadium (NSS)”.

Furthermore, Mahere expressed her disappointment in Coventry stating that she continues to make false claims about the much anticipated renovations of the NSS.

In a series of Tweets, she said: “With all due respect, this is a further episode of lies, incompetence and broken promises from the honourable Minister.

“As far back as February 2020, Minister Kirsty Coventry lied to the nation that she had the stadium refurbishment under control and that she was on it.

“When we expressed our skepticism, the honourable Minister called it “nonsense.” In September 2020, Minister Coventry lied that the “refurbishments” they’d “done” would be approved by CAF. They weren’t.

“In 2022, the honourable Minister lied that a South African company had been engaged to refurbish the national stadium. To date, the national stadium remains condemned.”

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe will then play South Africa at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on 11 June.