The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will today carry out a new inspection of the Zimpeto National Stadium, as part of the fulfillment of its requirements for the field to host international matches again.

The group of CAF inspectors arrives in Maputo today with the mission to assess the work that could possibly restore dignity to the stadium, which, at the time of the last inspection of the site in September, was in disrepair.

Prior to the CAF inspection, the Department of Club Licensing at the Mozambican Football Federation (FMF) will do a pre-inspection to produce a report on the current state of the stadium and that must be submitted to the CAF by next Monday, based on which its eligibility will be assessed.

In addition to the poor condition of the grass, the Zimpeto Stadium still does not have the turnstile system in place; fencing the outer perimeter and rehabilitation of the public toilets are other key requirements that the stadium must meet.

The work, to be carried out since September, has been valued at $1.5 million, and consists essentially of laying the new turf, work on which began in January and is expected to be completed in four months.

However, the grass has not developed suficiente. It is growing unevenly and with many areas of twilight, especially in the southern part of the field. In fact, areas where it has germinated at all.

The inspection that the Zimpeto Stadium and other African stadiums will undergo is aimed at the scheduling of the CAN-2023 qualifying phase, that is, to determine, within a specific timeframe, which ones are in a position to host matches.