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Sikhumbuzo Moyo in BULAWAY0
BARBOURFIELDS is still far behind, in terms of meeting the CAF minimum standards, with the dressing room size a mere 10 percent of the required FIFA measurements.

According to the world football controlling body, a standard dressing room must be 240 square metres but Barbourfields dressing rooms are just 35 square metres.

Former Lengthens owner, Bradley Musa Gwasira, and his colleagues in Harare pooled resources and donated 100 bags of cement for the renovations of the dressing rooms.

They also donated a fridge.

A preliminary inspection by a member of the ZIFA First Instance Body, Xolisani Gwesela, Sports and Recreation Commission Bulawayo coordinator, Sam Dzvimbu, and Bulawayo City Council officials, led by the stadium projects manager Thembinkosi Ncube, showed that while work on the stadium had started, the pace was very slow.

The media tribune, a key area in terms of meeting FIFA standards, is yet to be fitted with chairs and desks with the only notable change being the power sockets that have been installed.

The press conference room has six installed speakers while one of the three commentary boxes has a walled plasma television set.

All the commentary boxes are now air conditioned.

“This is just a preliminary inspection where we want to see progress of the work done so far, looking at what the City Council has done from our last visit,’’ said Gwesela.

“We will also advise them of what is expected but early next month a full First Instance Body committee will be here for a final inspection of the venue ahead of the CAF inspection team visit.’’

Despite the slow pace of progress, most of the outstanding issues can be sorted before the arrival of the CAF inspectors but the main worry will be the issue of the dressing rooms.

Early this week, a senior Bulawayo City Council official told Chronicle Sport they might be need for the VIP section to be demolished in order to have standard dressing rooms.

“We did work on the dressing rooms but the CAF fellows said they were too small so, for the City to meet those expected standards, it literally means demolishing Barbourfields Stadium, especially the VIP end.

“You must remember that stadium was built in the 1930s but started taking shape around 1956 so, for us to compare such a facility with South African stadiums that were built or worked on in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, will be asking too much given the time and economic considerations.

“It’s just like trying to convert a Peugeot 404 into a Mercedes Benz or something, it’s impossible. So for us, as a City, to have a totally compliant stadium we really need to demolish it (Barbourfields) or maybe work on White City Stadium which has some space for structural changes but that needs a financial impetus,” said the official.