While some Southern Africa nations find themselves in a nomadic plight with their playing venues banned by the continent’s footballing body Caf, Buffalo City Stadium tenant Siviwe Mpengesi has joined the band of SA messiahs offering them temporary homes.
However, the Chippa United boss will first need to ensure the venue ticks all the Caf boxes and is certified fit for continental teams to use as an alternative stadium.
Caf have prohibited Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Djibouti, Chad, Niger, Eritrea, Gabon, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Sao Tome, Burundi and Ghana from using their stadiums due to their failure to meet the necessary standards for hosting Caf A Type competitions.
SA has become a viable option for the neighbouring countries, with some using Dobsonville Stadium, Moses Mabhida in Durban and Orlando Stadium for Afcon qualifiers.
The situation is brighter in SA as they have a total of 12 Caf-approved stadiums, which is more than any other country on the continent.
Morocco have 10, Algeria seven and Egypt and the Ivory Coast six each.
SA’s list is Athlone Stadium (Cape Town), Cape Town Stadium, Free State Stadium (Bloemfontein), Loftus Versveld (Pretoria), Lucas Moripe Stadium (Pretoria), Mbombela Stadium, Moses Mabhida Stadium (Durban), Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (Gqeberha), Orlando Stadium (Soweto), Peter Mokaba Stadium (Polokwane), Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace (Phokeng) and Soccer City (Johannesburg).
And now Mpengesi is working on making Buffalo City Stadium the 13th for next season, his club Chippa United said in a statement on Wednesday.
The stadium last hosted an international match in 2017 when SA played Zambia in an African Nations Championship (Chan) qualifier.
Caf requires a stadium to have at least 10,000 seats. East London has a 15,000 capacity.
The other major factors the continental body considers are the pitch’s surrounding areas, medical-related areas, VIP, VVIP hospitality areas and training facilities.
The floodlight system must uniformly cover every area of the playing field and must have suitable lighting to cater for TV production teams as they generate their cash flow through TV rights.
According to reports, Mpengesi spent R10m to revitalise the Buffalo City Stadium after acquiring a 20-year lease.
In the statement on Wednesday, Chippa United said the stadium had undergone significant upgrades, including the installation of a new drainage system to meet Premier Soccer League standards and had been approved once again by top official Prof Ronnie Schloss.
In September, the club announced that extreme weather had caused significant damage to the drainage system at the Buffalo City Stadium, compromising the quality of the field and halting fixtures which will resume next weekend.
HeraldLIVE
Mpengesi working to get Buffalo City Stadium Caf-accredited
Significant upgrades made to facilities, says Chippa United
Image: FACEBOOK
While some Southern Africa nations find themselves in a nomadic plight with their playing venues banned by the continent’s footballing body Caf, Buffalo City Stadium tenant Siviwe Mpengesi has joined the band of SA messiahs offering them temporary homes.
However, the Chippa United boss will first need to ensure the venue ticks all the Caf boxes and is certified fit for continental teams to use as an alternative stadium.
Caf have prohibited Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Djibouti, Chad, Niger, Eritrea, Gabon, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Sao Tome, Burundi and Ghana from using their stadiums due to their failure to meet the necessary standards for hosting Caf A Type competitions.
SA has become a viable option for the neighbouring countries, with some using Dobsonville Stadium, Moses Mabhida in Durban and Orlando Stadium for Afcon qualifiers.
The situation is brighter in SA as they have a total of 12 Caf-approved stadiums, which is more than any other country on the continent.
Morocco have 10, Algeria seven and Egypt and the Ivory Coast six each.
SA’s list is Athlone Stadium (Cape Town), Cape Town Stadium, Free State Stadium (Bloemfontein), Loftus Versveld (Pretoria), Lucas Moripe Stadium (Pretoria), Mbombela Stadium, Moses Mabhida Stadium (Durban), Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (Gqeberha), Orlando Stadium (Soweto), Peter Mokaba Stadium (Polokwane), Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace (Phokeng) and Soccer City (Johannesburg).
And now Mpengesi is working on making Buffalo City Stadium the 13th for next season, his club Chippa United said in a statement on Wednesday.
The stadium last hosted an international match in 2017 when SA played Zambia in an African Nations Championship (Chan) qualifier.
Caf requires a stadium to have at least 10,000 seats. East London has a 15,000 capacity.
The other major factors the continental body considers are the pitch’s surrounding areas, medical-related areas, VIP, VVIP hospitality areas and training facilities.
The floodlight system must uniformly cover every area of the playing field and must have suitable lighting to cater for TV production teams as they generate their cash flow through TV rights.
According to reports, Mpengesi spent R10m to revitalise the Buffalo City Stadium after acquiring a 20-year lease.
In the statement on Wednesday, Chippa United said the stadium had undergone significant upgrades, including the installation of a new drainage system to meet Premier Soccer League standards and had been approved once again by top official Prof Ronnie Schloss.
In September, the club announced that extreme weather had caused significant damage to the drainage system at the Buffalo City Stadium, compromising the quality of the field and halting fixtures which will resume next weekend.
HeraldLIVE
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