The three-year renovations that have been taking place at Zimbabwe's National Sports Stadium in Harare is ready for the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament in neighbouring South Africa, New Ziana reported on Saturday.

The project engineer Tendai Chiwanza said progress had been made on the 60,000 sitter stadium that some clubs could use during the international derby.

China which built that stadium was assisting Zimbabwe in the refurbishment exercise.

Chiwanza said phase one of the renovations that included the installing a new giant screen and improving the public address system was almost complete. "We expect to complete phase one any time next month and thereafter begin work on phase two," he said.

Phase two would involve making improvements on the playing ground. "We are confident that we will meet the 2010 deadline and complete all renovations by that time," he said.

The stadium will be used for Independence Day celebrations next weekend.

International teams to the World Cup could camp in Zimbabwe during the month-long finals.

The Zimbabwe Football Association said a number of teams including Brazil and New Zealand had expressed an interest in using facilities in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2009)