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REWARD FOR COSAFA CASTLE CUP VICTORS
Zimbabwe’s football team are to be given residential stands in controversial new housing projects after winning the Cosafa Castle Cup at the weekend, the Herald newspaper of Harare reported.
The Zimbabwe government will hand over 18 residential stands to the squad after their surprise victory in the annual southern African championships in South Africa on Sunday.
The housing projects have been launched in the wake of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe’s controversial urban clean-up campaign in which a United Nations report claimed that 700,000 people lost their homes.
llegally-built houses and structures were demolished in a nationwide operation in June and July.
Zimbabwe’s Deputy Minister of Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development Morris Sakabuya said the stands were a token of appreciation for the team’s success, the Herald reported.
Zimbabwe beat neighbours Zambia 1-0 in the final in Mmabatho, South Africa – the first time in 25 years that Zimbabwe had scored a victory over the Zambians in a competitive international.
Zimbabwean Football Association chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze said he hoped more plots would be made available to other squad members if Zimbabwe managed to qualify for next year’s African Nations Cup finals in Egypt.
Zimbabwe have two more qualifying matches to play in their group.