Harare – Frederick Shava, the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister has revealed that the government recently engaged China for the long-awaited renovations of the National Sports Stadium (NSS).
Shava as quoted by the state-owned Herald newspaper, revealed this during the cabinet briefing on Tuesday.
He revealed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s delegation, which visited China last week, initiated discussions with Chinese investors for the renovations of the dilapidated giant stadium.
The foreign affairs minister who told the cabinet the government agreed on several deals with China, said the rehabilitation of NSS was one of them.
“Another one (deal) of interest is the rehabilitation of the National Sports Stadium. You all know the state of the National Sports Stadium and how it has been unable to accommodate or host certain matches,” said Shava.
“So, we are going to be looking at its rehabilitation and we will be working with the Chinese in this regard.”
NSS is currently barred from hosting international matches due to its failure to meet the Confederation of African Football (CAF) standards.
This has forced Zimbabwe to play its home games in foreign countries, with the latest one a 0-0 draw against Cameroon on Tuesday in Uganda.
Last year, they hosted Nigeria at Huye Stadium in Rwanda and recently they also played host to Lesotho at the Orlando Stadium in South Africa.
The situation has been a major disappointment for the country’s football fans, who are being deprived of the opportunity to watch their beloved Warriors play on home soil.
