Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S first football transfer window closed yesterday, with Zifa non-committal about the possibility of extending the player registration date.
Disruption of the football calendar caused by the coronavirus pandemic affected most clubs’ final preparations for the start of the season, as the Government announced a blanket ban on all sporting activities about two weeks before the player registration deadline day.
The Premier Soccer League and all lower division programmes under the auspices of Zifa have been indefinitely postponed after President Mnangagwa declared the coronavirus pandemic a state of national disaster and announced a raft of measures to curb its spread in Zimbabwe.
If spread of the coronavirus is contained, the football season might start in June.
International reports suggest that Fifa is working on adjusting the transfer window and teams that might have failed to fully register their squads by end of yesterday’s deadline will hope that the world football governing body communicates with Zifa.
“The transfer deadlines remain the same, with the first window closing today (yesterday). The second window is set to open on July 1 and close on July 31. Remember, we stand guided by Fifa and as it stands, we have no communication regarding changes in the transfer window. We don’t want to give false hope and for that reason, we’re sticking to the dates that were released earlier,” said Zifa communications and competitions manager Xolisani Gwesela.
The Premier Soccer League clubs had been given March 10 as the administrative player registration deadline to facilitate the process of sorting player licences.
They have been registering online through the transfer matching system (TMS).
It could not be established if Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) sides Tenax and Whawha managed to beat yesterday’s deadline after paying their Pemiership affiliation fees last week.
The status of Herentals FC, who are appealing against the PSL disciplinary committee’s ruling of kicking them out of the topflight for taking football matters to court, could not be established as well. — @ZililoR