In 1999, we cried foul after the Confederation of African Football withdrew Zimbabwe's right to host the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations on the grounds that the country's stadiums were not good enough to host the tournament.
We refused to accept Caf's explanation and instead shifted blame to CAF itself accusing the continental football federation of coming hard on Zimbabwe after Zifa chairman Leo Mugabe voted for Joseph Sepp Blatter against a Caf resolution to back Lennart Johannson in the 1998 Fifa presidential poll.
Caf had given Zimbabwe a deadline to upgrade its stadiums according to specifications laid out, but after an inspection visit realised that not much had been done and time was running out.
According to a Caf report, what they saw as stadia renovations in their inspection visit were "heaps of soil and sand, tractors and caterpillars ", but no serious work being done.
27 years later, what Caf warned us about has become a reality as Zimbabwe does not have a single stadium good enough to host not only its national team but also its clubs in Pan African football.
The danger, though, is even much serious as Zimbabwe could soon run out of stadiums to host its own local football as most of the stadiums do not have good enough drainage system and spectator cover in times of rain.
Ascot stadium which had been earmarked to host some of the group games of Afcon 2000 only last week failed to host a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match between TelOne and Chicken Inn due to a waterlogged pitch.
Considering that Ascot is one of our best stadiums, what will happen to our football should the season spill deep into December due to the Munhumutapa Zifa Challenge Cup ?
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Surely, had we followed what Caf told us to do way back in 1998, Zimbabwe would not be in the stadia crisis it is today and crying over stadiums to host Pan African club football or even its own national team football.
We would today be having the luxury of having Barbourfields, Rufaro, Ascot, Sakubva, and probably Mucheke, as possible venues for use by Dynamos and Scottland in their African adventure.
Some might argue that Caf standards have changed since then, and our stadiums have fallen behind but the fact remains that the renovations required today would have required less money and labour had we covered the old Caf requirements.
What we forgot then was that we were not doing that for Caf but for ourselves but sadly what was left at Ascot, Sakubva, Mbizo, and Mucheke, were heaps of soil and sand but no tractors, caterpillers nor workforce to do work.
The results have been there for everyone to see as most of our stadiums are in a terrible state while the famed Rufaro Stadium is getting worse as the City of Harare has spent most of its time and money developing the outside car park — for profit — instead of putting touch ups inside the stadium.
The danger we are facing is that we are running out of stadiums to host even our Castle Lager Premier Soccer League matches to the extent that five teams, Caps United, Dynamos, Herentals, Hunters, and Scottland, all share Rufaro Stadium.
The issue is not that we do not have stadiums but that city and town authorities have lost interest in maintaining and improving stadiums because they no longer see value in them.
Dulibadzimu, Danny Bismarck, Gwanzura, Mbizo, Mucheke, Rudhaka, Rimuka, Sakubva, and Vengere are all good enough stadiums but have been left to rot because those in charge do not see their financial benefit.
It is now up to the football hierarchy to build a strong relationship with the city authorities and impart on them the importance of upgrading and maintaining the stadiums they have.
The city fathers should be made aware of the financial spin offs of investing in an up to standard stadium because right now they see no financial motivation in doing so.
This should not begin and end with the city authorities but also extend to the government as they too do not see the value of investing in infrastructure.
Castle Lager Premier Soccer League teams should also be prepared to use venues like Rudhaka and Vengere stadiums, otherwise those in charge see no value in low league football.
It will not be easy to bring our stadiums up to the international standards required but at least we should do our best to keep them in shape for our domestic game.
So far, it appears, we are failing
