Zimpapers Logo

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Kirsty Coventry on Thursday told members of the Senate that Caf has not released dates for the resumption of international football competitions like the Total Afcon and Champions League.

Minister Coventry said this while responding to a question from Senator Chief Ngungumbane during oral answers to questions without notice.

Chief Ngungumbane had asked if the Government had made any contingency plans to ensure that the national team and FC Platinum that will be representing the country in the Champions League will find alternative stadia for use in the unlikely event that Caf does not approve Zimbabwe’s stadia.

In her response the Minister said while the Government was positive that Caf will approve the work that has been done in refurbishment of the stadia, they will only start to look at other things if Caf thinks otherwise and until there has been confirmation as to when the games will be held, there was therefore no reason not to be confident in the upgrades that have been done.

“Confederation of African Football (Caf) has not spoken or sent any reference to any of the stakeholders that the resumption of play will be within this year. So, we are at this point in time, very positive that we will be approved for our games to go on.

“If at any point in the next few weeks we see that Caf is not going to be positive with the upgrade that has been done, we could then start to look at other things, but until we have confirmation as to when these games will take off, there is no reason for us not to be confident in the upgrade that we have done to pass Caf inspections,” said Minister Coventry, according to the Hansard.

In August, Caf released new revised dates for the 2021 Total Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers for round three and four, which it said will be between November 9-17, while early this month the continental motherbody said the Champions League preliminary round matches will be played on the weekend of November 20-22, with the second legs set for November 27-29.

The Warriors will be taking on Algeria in the Afcon qualifiers, while FC Platinum carries the nation’s flag in the Champions League.