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Zimbabwe’s Warriors have to wait three more months before they embark in the 2022 World Cup journey after the Confederation of African Football postponed the opening qualifiers that were set for June.
Zimbabwe were supposed to begin their campaign against South Africa and Ethiopia next month in Group G but the opening matches will now be played in September.
The Warriors back-to-back clashes with Ghana have been pushed by a month to October while the qualifying campaign will now conclude in March next year, just a few months before the global football jamboree.
A statement from the continent’s football governing body said the CAF Emergency Committee reached the decision in consultation with FIFA after taking into consideration the disruptions caused by coronavirus.
“The CAF Emergency Committee, in consultation with FIFA, decided to postpone the CAF qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™️ that were due to be played in June 2021 after taking into consideration the current challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need to ensure the optimal playing conditions for all participating teams.
“The qualifiers will now take place in the existing windows of September, October and November 2021, and March 2022.
“CAF is reassessing its protocols and processes to enhance the implementation of COVID-related protocols, including specifically focusing on pre-match testing which had been the source of some challenges in previous windows. Full details on the updated match schedule will be provided in due course,” said a statement from the CAF communication department.
The postponement was announced just moments after the Zimbabwe technical team had announced their squad to face South Africa and Ethiopia next month.
The postponement also comes in the background of a stadium crisis that has gripped the continent in the run up to the global football qualifiers.
CAF this week banned several stadiums that failed to meet minimum requirements and the situation could have seen some countries, that are participating in the second round group stages, being forced to play their home matches on neutral venues.
West African giants Senegal, Mali and others like Burkina Faso, Niger, Central Africa Republic, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia do not have approved stadia. Herald
