News / National
Bulawayo Chiefs take over Amazulu
31 Mar 2022 at 03:38hrs | Views
AMBITIOUS Bulawayo Chiefs have officially taken over Amazulu Sports Club, which they intend to make a one stop shop for the club.
Chiefs beat a number of high-profile bids, including from former Zimbabwe Electoral Commission commissioner, Qhubani Moyo, and a partnership between arts gurus Iyasa, Bulawayo Arts Awards and Beitbridge Festival of the Arts to the venue along Robert Mugabe Way in North End, next to Hartsfield Rugby Ground.
Most submissions to lease the sports club showed that they wanted it for purposes of setting up a "Tshisa Nyama", while some wanted to establish sports academies.
Unlike in the past when Bulawayo City Council leased out Amazulu Sports Club for a long period, the local authority has decided on five-year leases.
The first time the facility was leased out was in 1961 for a period of 25 years. The second automatic 25-year lease expired in 2011.
In 2012, council leased out the facility to Amazulu for 10 years and the agreement was due to expire this year, but it was terminated following a number of breaches, including failure to make lease payments and to maintain the facility.
In 2018, Chicken Inn FC made a failed bid to lease Amazulu Sports Club.
Yesterday the facility was officially handed over to Chiefs.
"Today (yesterday) was the occasion of the official hand over of Amazulu Ground to the club following completion of the legal paperwork. This was done through the council estates department, which was at the ground for the handover and final inspection," said Bulawayo Chiefs operations manager Michael Dube.
"This ticks the various objectives of the club's vision to have our own facilities we can upgrade and tailor make to suit our professional needs. We feel great about this and we look forward to a happy home here. We will share our broad plans in due course, and everyone who knows our potential can expect big things ahead.
"This will be a total Chiefs Village, a one stop shop for the team. We will build a home here. This will be a lot beneficial to the team, the stakeholders, the fans and the football fraternity in general. Mostly the team will be using the ground for training, cutting costs of hiring grounds for training."
Chiefs beat a number of high-profile bids, including from former Zimbabwe Electoral Commission commissioner, Qhubani Moyo, and a partnership between arts gurus Iyasa, Bulawayo Arts Awards and Beitbridge Festival of the Arts to the venue along Robert Mugabe Way in North End, next to Hartsfield Rugby Ground.
Most submissions to lease the sports club showed that they wanted it for purposes of setting up a "Tshisa Nyama", while some wanted to establish sports academies.
Unlike in the past when Bulawayo City Council leased out Amazulu Sports Club for a long period, the local authority has decided on five-year leases.
The first time the facility was leased out was in 1961 for a period of 25 years. The second automatic 25-year lease expired in 2011.
In 2012, council leased out the facility to Amazulu for 10 years and the agreement was due to expire this year, but it was terminated following a number of breaches, including failure to make lease payments and to maintain the facility.
In 2018, Chicken Inn FC made a failed bid to lease Amazulu Sports Club.
Yesterday the facility was officially handed over to Chiefs.
"Today (yesterday) was the occasion of the official hand over of Amazulu Ground to the club following completion of the legal paperwork. This was done through the council estates department, which was at the ground for the handover and final inspection," said Bulawayo Chiefs operations manager Michael Dube.
"This ticks the various objectives of the club's vision to have our own facilities we can upgrade and tailor make to suit our professional needs. We feel great about this and we look forward to a happy home here. We will share our broad plans in due course, and everyone who knows our potential can expect big things ahead.
"This will be a total Chiefs Village, a one stop shop for the team. We will build a home here. This will be a lot beneficial to the team, the stakeholders, the fans and the football fraternity in general. Mostly the team will be using the ground for training, cutting costs of hiring grounds for training."
Source - The Chronicle
