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Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter

BLACK Rhinos are determined to host matches outside Harare this coming season with the army side committing resources towards the refurbishment of Trojan Stadium in Bindura.

The Premiership club had wanted to use Chinhoyi Stadium for their home matches this coming season.

However, they were forced to alter their choice after noting the Chinhoyi Town Council authorities’ reluctance to renovate the ground.

However, Rhinos’ bid to take their matches to Trojan were shattered when the stadium was condemned by the ZIFA First Instance Body.

But, with the start of the 2020 season having been moved by, at least, two months, Rhinos have revived their bid to play at Trojan.

Club secretary-general, Edward Mutukwa, said they had committed both human and financial resources to upgrade the venue, last used by relegated Mushowani last year.

“Remember this stadium was used for Premiership football by Mushowani last year,’’ he said.

“But, importantly, it had been condemned, initially, before it was cleared in the second half of the year.

“We have the report with ZIFA FIB’s recommendations. We have studied that and we are also studying the latest report from their recent inspection.

“So, we are working towards addressing all the flaws which were noted by the authorities. We are not going to be using any stadium in Harare.

“We want to take football to the people. We had initially settled for Chinhoyi Stadium but then there are some areas the authorities there are still working on addressing.

“That means we will have to chip in at Trojan, which we have already started. We have men on the ground and we are so determined.

“We hope that when the league is finally allowed to start, we will have the stadium re-inspected. The idea is to de-congest Harare. We need to take football to all corners of the country, that’s our motivation.”

Black Rhinos have since given their players a break and will only return after the 21-day lockdown. Coach Herbert Maruwa has been one of the few trainers in the top-flight who has been keeping a low profile this pre-season but appears to have assembled a competitive side.

His team, who have signed a host of players including ex-Dynamos striker Tawanda Macheke, former Herentals midfielder Edgar Mhungu as well as Chelsea Nyakope who signed from Mushowani, have been to a two-week camp in Kariba as part of their pre-season preparations.