Dembare in stadium u-turn

Harare giants Dynamos have decided to play their remaining home games at Rufaro Stadium in the capital in a sudden reversal of a resolution they made at the beginning of the year.

Prior to the start of the ongoing Castle Lager Premier Soccer League campaign, DeMbare resolved to abandon their traditional home ground, Rufaro Stadium for the more spacious National Sports Stadium.

Among the reasons they cited were the high ground rentals and poor turf which they felt was responsible for a number of injuries their players suffered in the 2013 campaign.

Incidentally, the Glamour Boys' decision to move back to the council-owned facility comes barely a week after they played out a 1-1 draw with Hwange in a league match at the stadium following the temporary closure of the National Sports Stadium.

Dynamos chairperson Kenny Mubaiwa yesterday confirmed the latest development, saying the Harare City Council had, among a number of issues the Harare giants had requested to be looked into, agreed to reduce ground levies.

The city council has been pocketing a staggering 20% of the total gate takings at matches.

"What is only left is a notification letter from the city fathers as we have already agreed on many issues and one of our requests was for them to reduce the ground levies, though I am not at liberty to disclose the exact percentage," he said.

Mubaiwa indicated that the new agreement will also cover next season and is confident that the defending league champions will be able to start using the facility in their next home match against Chiredzi FC.

"We have with immediate effect moved back to Rufaro Stadium because that is the venue most of our supporters are able to easily access and we need their support especially now that we have reached a decisive stage of the season," he said.

In the one instance that they have played a home game at Rufaro Stadium this season, the Glamour Boys attracted an estimated 10 000 crowd, despite the clash with Hwange occurring on a Thursday and that encouraging turn-out seems to have played a huge part in their latest decision.

"Rufaro is more convenient for our supporters, some of whom found it costly to attend games at the National Sports Stadium. Ever since we moved there (National Sports Stadium), we have been incurring losses," said Mubaiwa.

The DeMbare boss said they had taken into account the apparent danger the deteriorating turf at the stadium poses to players, stating they have engaged the Harare City Council to work on sprucing up the turf.

"We are aware of the danger which is posed by the turf, but for now we are not looking much into it as we are confident that the city fathers will work on it. Our focus is now collecting the silverware that is still on offer," said Mubaiwa, who also took time to explain the club executive's decision to suspend team captain Murape Murape and Roderick Mutuma last week.

After the duo were suspended following a training ground bust-up, indications were that head coach Kalisto Pasuwa felt hard done by the decision which was made in his absence.

However, Mubaiwa yesterday insisted the action was necessary to protect the team's image as well as that of the club's sponsors.

"We understand where the technical department is coming from on the suspension as they had the players in their plans, but what we did was meant to protect the brand of our sponsors and the club.

"Anyway, a disciplinary hearing is still on for September 4," he said.