Harare to go dry on match days

Bar and restaurant owners in Zimbabwe’s capital have been warned to close their doors on World Cup match days in an apparent effort to ...

Bar and restaurant owners in Zimbabwe’s capital have been warned to close their doors on World Cup match days in an apparent effort to thwart boycotts by protest groups.

Government officials, however, said on Sunday that tickets for the games had been sold out within two days, guaranteeing that venues would be full for all six matches scheduled to be held in the southern African country. Many businessmen in Harare said they had received an unsigned letter, which was printed on a Zanu-PF letterhead and featured an image of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe with his fist raised.

“Citizens, we at National Youth Services are saying you must not open your premises on February 10, 13 and 19,” it said. The writers said they were “assisting the Zimbabwe Cricket Union to fill the grounds because people are saying they will not go to these games. If you stay open and get your patrons to watch the cricket on your televisions, you also will be unpatriotic. Our cadres will make sure you will obey this rule,” the letter added.

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But a Ministry of Sport official in Harare said tickets for World Cup matches to be played in the capital were sold out within two days. “We have thousands of people who might have wanted to watch the games but there are no tickets Left,” the official said on Sunday. “Those who go to the pubs will do so since they can’t get into the venues because of the ticket crunch.”

England are scheduled to play Zimbabwe in Harare on Thursday but have not yet decided whether to boycott the Group A match because of fears for player safety in the strife-torn country. England lost a second appeal on Friday to have the game moved to South Africa, World Cup organisers insisting that Harare was safe to stage matches.

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