Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown along with other venues in South Africa have been mentioned as possible alternatives for the Zimbabwe national team’s World Cup qualifiers, which start in November.
CAF set today (Friday) as the deadline for national associations to submit venues for the qualifiers. The Obed Itani Chilume Stadium is the only local facility that has been certified as ready to host international matches. The National Stadium and the Lobatse Sports Complex can only host junior national teams as they are classified as category two venues.
Obed Itani Chilume Stadium is category three and can host the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup qualifiers. Zimbabwe is reportedly weighing up options of playing their matches in Botswana or South Africa. While Botswana has one CAF-approved venue, South Africa has seven, which might make it an attractive new home for Zimbabwe as there are alternatives. The Obed Itani Chilume Stadium will be expected to host Zebras’ World Cup qualifying matches. The Botswana Football Association (BFA) CEO, Mfolo Mfolo said there has been no contact with Zimbabwe regarding playing at the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium. “As for Zimbabwe we have not received any communication ...taking into account also that we are not the stadium custodians,” Mfolo briefly said.
The Botswana National Sport Commission (BSNC) is the custodian of stadia. BNSC CEO, Tuelo Serufho said they are open to hosting the Warriors. “(We are) not aware of any overture at the moment. We would of course be honoured to host that fixture if approached,” he said. “That should serve to further solidify the fraternal relationship we have with Zimbabwe, in addition to bolstering Obed Itani Chilume Stadium’s reputation as a host for international football matches, something that should bode well for our AFCON 2027 bid ambitions,” Serufho added.
Obed Itani Chilume Stadium could play host to a blockbuster tie as Zimbabwe face Nigeria in the World Cup qualifier. CAF has indicated the list of approved venues for match day one and two of the World Cup qualifiers are subject to change as inspection takes place regularly. As high as 24 out of 54 CAF members have at one stage or another, failed to provide a suitable venue, forcing national teams to play their home matches on foreign soil.
