HIGHLANDERS Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ronald Moyo has said the club is engaging ‘its stakeholders’ to solve gate leakages that saw home stadium Barbourfields almost fill to the brim against ticket sales of just over 11,000.
By Bhora Afrika
Barbourfields stadium has a sitting capacity of 25,000 fans although its record attendance stands at 39,366 when the club hosted rivals Dynamos on 28 February 1999.
Official figures shared by Highlanders indicated 11,046 fans had paid to watch the club’s historic 2-1 win over 2022 champions FC Platinum despite images shared showing a stadium filled to near capacity.
The Bulawayo giants had not beaten FC Platinum in nine years.
Speaking to ZTN Prime, Moyo conceded that leakages could have played a part in filling the stadium but disputed it had been filled by fans who made their way in through ‘unorthodox’ means. He argued it was impossible.
“The system that the PSL used to count the number of people who accessed the stadium is through the sale of tickets,” said Moyo.
“We have seen that happening especially at high profile matches where people access the stadium through unorthodox means, that might have happened.
“We are engaging key stakeholders to make sure that we deal with that going forward.
“The full capacity of Barbourfields is plus or minus 23,000; it is something we are seized with but what I know is that even with those leakages we cannot have a number above 2,000 of such leakages.”
Highlanders have proved worthy pacesetters in bringing back fans to stadia, with images showing commendable attendance at Barbourfields week-in-week-out.
Rivals Dynamos who seem to have been the hardest hit by the fan exodus are slowly regaining their following.
Exact figures of fans attending matches are rarely made public, further causing confusion on the number of supporters attending Castle Lager Premier Soccer League matches.