BULAWAYO Mayor David Coltart says there is urgent need to rehabilitate stadia in the country's second largest city to be able to host international football matches.
The premier's utterances come as Zimbabwe's senior soccer side, the Warriors, are playing international home games away from home, in other African countries following a ban.
The ban came after fields failed to meet international standards imposed by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Coltart indicated Bulawayo's plans to upgrade major sports facilities, including Barbourfields, Hartsfield and Queens stadiums.
In an interview with NewZimbabwe.com, Coltart said there is urgent need to rehabilitate stadia in the City of Kings and Queens.
"We would like to rehabilitate our major sports grounds including Barbourfields, Hartsfield, and Queens but we have no plans because of budget constraints," said Coltart.
He noted that Barbourfields has potential to host international matches if only the city allocates 7% of its budget towards sports infrastructure revamp.
"However, as you may have noted government recently ordered all local authorities to allocate 7% of their budget for this purpose.
"If that becomes a reality then I have no doubt that Barbourfields, in particular, will be a priority to make sure it can hold international matches.
"There are no plans to construct any new stadia - we have to fix what we already have," said Coltart
Despite the optimistic outlook, the mayor highlighted the uncertainty surrounding the necessary funding.
"I cannot say how much is required at present because this wasn't included in our original budget," said Coltart.
Coltart also commented on Queens Sports Club, which is being leased to Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC).
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"Queens has been leased to ZC so it is their responsibility in terms of the lease agreement. I agree it needs a major upgrade and think this should be a priority over, for example, the new stadium in Victoria Falls," said Coltart.
The country's largest football stadium, the 60 000-seater National Sports Stadium (NSS) located in Harare, which has not been used for hosting football games for almost three years, was also banned by FIFA and CAF.
