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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter

THE Warriors next Afcon opponents Malawi have called for reinforcements after the Flames camp was hit by Covid-19.

Malawi played their first group game against Guinea on Monday without coach Mario Marinica and six players who all tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, according to the country’s football association.

Just like Zimbabwe, they lost their opening match 0-1 to Guinea.

The Football Association of Malawi has now summoned five players that were on the reserve list to join the team in Cameroon.

The players are expected to arrive in Cameroon on Tuesday.

The reinforcements come after Caf clarified on Sunday that participating teams will be allowed to use 28 players for matches at the tournament.

The official number of players registered for the competition is 23, but Caf allowed participating teams to register five more players at their own cost and they could only be called up in case of serious injury.

Caf specified that the injury had to be certified through MRI Scan by the Caf Medical Committee and Covid-19 was not regarded as a serious injury.

If any player tests positive they will not be authorised to go to the stadium or participate in the match, and teams must play as long as they have a minimum of 11 players available.

If they have no goalkeeper available, another player must play in that position.

Teams that do not have a minimum of 11 players available will forfeit the match on a 2-0 score line. – @innocentskizoe