Dynamos, Ngezi Platinum cup clash lifts curtain on 2024 football
By Sports Reporter
Premiership giants Dynamos will set in motion the 2024 Zimbabwe football season with a Castle Challenge Cup clash against champions Ngezi Platinum at Baobab February 17.
The competition pits winners of the premiership and the Chibuku Super Cup champions.
Before the Chibuku clash eventually won by Dynamos in December last year, the opponents posted similar victories against each other in reverse fixtures of the 2023 premiership race.
Ngezi Platinum beat Dynamos 2-1 in May before the former champions replied with an identical victory in October.
Dynamos however would claim bragging rights over the reigning champions whom they beat 2-0 to win the 2023 Chibuku Super Cup at Baobab Stadium.
Meanwhile, the 2024 premiership race starts 24 February as football authorities try to avoid a fixture congestion into the year.
The 2023 premiership season was disrupted by a stadium crisis which saw Harare teams forced to find alternative venues outside the capital to host their matches.
The coming football season will be bolstered by the expected availability of Rufaro Stadium with Walter Magaya’s Heart Stadium also set to undergo inspection for suitability to host premiership matches.
PSL chairman Farai Jere said the National Sports Stadium which hosted all Harare fixtures last season was however doubtful.
“We are expecting a lot of stadia this season and hope to have some of the traditional ones back unfortunately my only concern is the National Sports Stadium which might not be ready by the time we start our season as it’s supposed to get a major upgrade and looks like it won’t be ready by the 24th when the league starts,” Jere said.
“We are starting early because we want to avoid congestion last year we ended up playing games during the International break which did not go down well with others but we were trying to finish the season in time so this year we want to avoid that.”
