News / Local
Zifa in embarrassing friendly U-turn
12 Oct 2023 at 06:40hrs | Views
The Zifa Normalisation Committee has faced an embarrassing reversal of its decision, officially canceling a proposed friendly match against neighboring Botswana, which they had announced just 24 hours earlier.
In another misstep in their short tenure overseeing domestic football, the normalisation committee declared on Tuesday morning that a Warriors squad, consisting of both local and foreign-based players, would play Botswana in an international friendly at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on Saturday. The match was scheduled for 3 pm as part of preparations for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Nigeria next month.
However, it emerged that the normalisation committee, led by Lincoln Mutasa, had not consulted with their Botswana counterparts, who had already arranged a home friendly match against Eswatini on Monday for their World Cup qualifiers preparations. Botswana Football Association's CEO, Mfolo Mfolo, denied the reports of a friendly match with Zimbabwe.
This embarrassing error led to Zifa retracting its earlier announcement, stating that "Zifa advises all football stakeholders that our planned international friendly match against Botswana has been canceled due to circumstances beyond our control. The association sincerely regrets all inconveniences that this unfortunate development has caused to all our stakeholders."
The Zifa Normalisation Committee has recently faced criticism for dismissing key members of the secretariat, and they are also struggling to secure alternative venues for international matches, as the country's stadia are banned from hosting them.
Nonetheless, they still plan to go ahead with the training camp for the Warriors during the international break to assess their options ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Nigeria in November. The squad comprises local and foreign-based players, excluding the British Brigade.
Zimbabwe's group for the World Cup qualifiers includes Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, Benin, and Lesotho. They will start their campaign against Rwanda on November 13, followed by hosting Nigeria seven days later.
In another misstep in their short tenure overseeing domestic football, the normalisation committee declared on Tuesday morning that a Warriors squad, consisting of both local and foreign-based players, would play Botswana in an international friendly at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on Saturday. The match was scheduled for 3 pm as part of preparations for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Nigeria next month.
However, it emerged that the normalisation committee, led by Lincoln Mutasa, had not consulted with their Botswana counterparts, who had already arranged a home friendly match against Eswatini on Monday for their World Cup qualifiers preparations. Botswana Football Association's CEO, Mfolo Mfolo, denied the reports of a friendly match with Zimbabwe.
The Zifa Normalisation Committee has recently faced criticism for dismissing key members of the secretariat, and they are also struggling to secure alternative venues for international matches, as the country's stadia are banned from hosting them.
Nonetheless, they still plan to go ahead with the training camp for the Warriors during the international break to assess their options ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Nigeria in November. The squad comprises local and foreign-based players, excluding the British Brigade.
Zimbabwe's group for the World Cup qualifiers includes Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, Benin, and Lesotho. They will start their campaign against Rwanda on November 13, followed by hosting Nigeria seven days later.
Source - newsday
