The Herald, Published by the government of Zimbabwe, 10 July 2009

Harare — WORLD football governing body Fifa are happy with the condition of the artificial surface at Rufaro and the effort that is being put in the maintenance of the field.

Two Fifa officials were in Harare this week to inspect the artificial surface that was installed by the world football governing body.

“The turf is being well taken care of by the groundsmen,” said Fletcher. “It has had a positive impact on the players and coaches because the players enjoy playing there. “The football turf is different from other artificial surfaces because it was developed with football in mind and it is not affected by the weather,” he said.

Zifa technical director Nelson Matongorere was happy that they have managed to maintain the turf to the standards that have been hailed by Fifa. “We have managed to maintain the turf and the officials were impressed and they have said they are going to use it as a case study.

“Other member associations were given the turf but failed to maintain it and I can say we have done well as Zimbabwe. “They also got a lot of positive responses from the stakeholders. We have the capacity of having Fifa making more donations to the country,” said Matongorere.

The Fifa officials, who left Harare yesterday, also handed over 10 adidas footballs to community clubs in Mbare.