THE Confederation of African Football has barred Zifa from using the National Sports Stadium for the next two official home matches following the chaos that led to loss of life and injuries at the giant stadium recently.

Zifa spokesperson, Xolisani Gwesela, said the association were sanctioned by the Caf Disciplinary Board yesterday in terms of Caf Statutes and Regulations and Articles 82, 83.1 and 151 of the Caf Disciplinary Code.

However, one match from the sanctions has been suspended in the event that a similar incident does not occur during the next 12 months.

Zimbabwe’s next home game is the national Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations final qualifier against South Africa, which has been rescheduled to September.

Gwesela said the association were yet to respond to the ruling but it looks the match will be taken to Barbourfields, one of the three grounds that have been approved by Caf to host international matches.
Mandava is the other stadium with the Caf certification.

“We have just received the judgment and, unfortunately, we haven’t decided on the way forward yet,’’ said Gwesela.

“But we have other stadia that are homologated by Caf and these are Barbourfields and Mandava.
“Rufaro used to host internationals but it would need to be re-inspected if it has to be homologated.

“As an association we have to abide by the ruling but the bottom line is we need to ensure such incidents don’t occur in the future.

“As Zifa, we tried our best in organising for that particular match and it’s unfortunate we had that incident.’’State media