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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIFA has submitted information demanded by Caf and Fifa on the Covid-19 situation in the country ahead of next month’s Fifa 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Warriors general manager Wellington Mpandare started sending letters to clubs outside the country last week asking for the release of national team players for the World Cup qualifier against South Africa in the first week of next month.

After missing eight European-based players for the last crunch Afcon qualifier against Botswana due to stringent Covid-19 travel restrictions that had been imposed by the United Kingdom and France, Mpandare hopes the Warriors’ stars will be available for the World Cup qualifiers.

The United Kingdom brigade led by Aston Villa midfielder Marvelous Nakamba and comprising Jordan Zemura (AFC Bournemouth), Tendayi Darikwa (Wigan Athletic), Brendan Galloway and David Moyo (Hamilton Academical) as well as striker Admiral Muskwe missed the tie against Botswana, as they would have been forced to quarantine for 10 days on their return.

Striker Tinotenda Kadewere and midfielder Marshal Munetsi, who were cleared by their clubs for national duty, also didn’t turn up to avoid a six-day quarantine on their return.

Their respective teams didn’t want to risk missing the players, as their leagues were in the final stages and every point was crucial.
Mpandare said they were now awaiting Fifa to give direction on the release of players for national duty.

“We’re waiting for clubs’ responses. We are also waiting for Fifa and Caf to give guidance. We were asked to provide information on Covid-19 in our country, such as if players will be required to quarantine when they come to Zimbabwe. We’ve sent supporting documents from the Ministry of Health and Child Care,” said Mpandare.

“Our hope is that Fifa will direct clubs to release players like they did when we played Algeria last year when they said if a club refuses to release any player for national duty, they’ll be slapped with a US$1 million fine,” said Mpandare.

He said they’ll announce the squad for the South African tie once they get responses from the foreign-based clubs.

“The reason we haven’t announced the squad is that we don’t want a situation whereby we announce players and a week later we are forced to change and call up new faces. We will wait for Fifa, Caf and clubs’ responses.

“We’re only worried about Prince Dube’s injury. We haven’t had any challenges and we hope Dube would have fully recovered by the time we play against South Africa.” — @ZililoR