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Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
ZIFA finance director Philemon Machana has hailed fans who came to the National Sports Stadium to back the Warriors as they powered to victory against Liberia, but remained worried over the deficit his association incurred due to the high cost of hosting such internationals.

He also regretted the delay in the opening of entry points at the giant stadium where the association grossed $59 490.16 after 18 289 fans paid their way into the stadium.

Total income for the match amounted to $115 590.16 while expenditure was $172 429.01, which left ZIFA with a net deficit of $56 838.85. Machana, however, paid special tribute to Prophetic Healing Deliverance Ministries founder Walter Magaya for his sponsorship of the national team, which took care of the Warriros’ accommodation, meals and transport and helped ZIFA reduce their deficit by $56 100.

Magaya topped up his sponsorship by giving each player $1 000 for their convincing win that could have set the tone for their campaign which will resume in March next year when they visit Brazzaville for a date with Congo.

Congo fell 3-1 to their neighbours DRC in their opening game in Lubumbashi.

The cheapest ticket for the rest of the ground was pegged at $3 and 17 911 fans bought those tickets, 160 supporters purchased the $10 tickets for the VIP bays and 218 fans paid $20 each for the VVIP tribune.

The late opening of the turnstiles was attributed to an athletics event that was taking place at the same venue earlier in the day which lasted to around midday.

“We would like to express our gratitude to the multitude of fans who thronged the National Sports Stadium for the Total Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Liberia on Sunday. We believe the large crowd motivated our team to triumph.

“We are also grateful to our partners who made this match a success and special mention goes to Prophet Walter Magaya, who generously provided accommodation and food for the Warriors as we prepared for the match. Prophet Magaya’s benevolence went a long way in reducing match-related expenses we had to pay for.

“However, we would like to apologise for opening the gates late due to circumstances beyond our control. The National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe was also using the same facility for its Southern Africa Athletics competitions, hence the unfortunate delay. NAAZ ended their programme at 12 noon and gates were opened at 12.30pm.

“This resulted in congestion on some of the entry points, leading to unsanctioned entry into the stadium by some supporters. Traditionally, gates are opened at 10am. We will do everything possible to ensure that fans do not encounter such inconveniences in future,’’ Machana said.

Machana, who was recently appointed the vice-chairman of the COSAFA finance committee, also urged corporate entities to emulate the gesture shown by Magaya and partner ZIFA in absorbing some of the direct match expenses such as the players’ allowances, appearance fees and winning bonuses.

The Harare businessman was however, not amused by the fact that ground rentals continue to gobble much with 12 percent of the gate revenue going towards stadium hire, arguing that Ministry Local government, Public Works and National Housing needed to review their charges for such “national events like Warriors matches’’.

“Various factors contributed to the deficit that we incurred. Of course, we got a clean stadium at the National Sports Stadium, but didn’t have enough touchline advertising to increase our revenue streams,” he said.