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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Warriors will have adequate preparations for the Fifa World Cup qualifiers in September as well as the Total Afcon finals set for early next year, Zifa has said.

The national association says it will take advantage of the July Cosafa senior men’s tournament to fine-tune the squad ahead of the September encounter against neighbours South Africa and Ethiopia.

Reacting to media reports that Zifa was taking a lackadaisical approach to the national team’s preparations while the Warriors’ opponents were seemingly leaving no stone unturned with high profile friendly matches lined up, Zifa said an earlier decision not to play friendly matches was on the basis that they were too close to the World Cup qualifiers, which had been scheduled for next month.

The abrupt postponement of matches was too short a notice for any matches to be organised in line with the country’s Covid-19 standard operating procedures.

“We do not have adequate time at this stage to agree with other member associations for a friendly match and to get necessary approvals even if we wanted to play. The Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) requires a 30-day notice for us to be allowed to organise an international match while Fifa requires a 21-day notice for us to get authorisation to organise an international friendly.

“The Warriors’ technical team will use the Cosafa Cup tournament to mold a competitive team for the September, October and November World Cup qualifiers. The same World Cup qualifiers will also help the players to gel and become even more competitive ahead of the Afcon finals next year,” said the Zifa communications and competitions manager Xolisani Gwesela in a statement.

He said the astronomical amounts involved in organising matches during a pandemic, against the backdrop of funding a national team had also forced Zifa to select matches that benefit the team, while the association remained sustainable.

He said the economic environment was the driving force for all business operations “and we find it mind boggling why Zifa is always expected to be awash with money in an environment where most organisations are struggling”.

“The Warriors are not the only team playing international matches this year. We also have to devote resources towards Africa Women’s Cup of Nations qualifiers and the Cosafa Women’s Championship. The long-term sustainability of our operations is based on decisions made in the present and is key in the way that preparatory matches for national teams are selected.

“Our preparations for competitions are never guided by what other teams in the region or on the continent are doing because the economic environments in different countries are unique. The world over, national teams’ costs are borne by governments, which is not the case in Zimbabwe because of the harsh economic environment,” said Gwesela.