Correspondent|The Zimbabwe national soccer team will know its opponents for the World cup qualifiers amidst a dual crisis at home as some stadiums were banned and the Zimbabwe Football Association(ZIFA) has not appointed a substantive coach to prepare the national team for the qualifiers which will begin in March.
In March 2019, ZIFA, in a statement informed soccer fans that “The Confederation of African Football (CAF) Disciplinary Board, in terms of Caf Statutes & Regulations and Articles 82, 83.1 & 151 of the Caf Disciplinary Code, had resolved to ban our [ Zimbabwean] national teams from using the National Sports Stadium for the next two Caf- sanctioned matches”, in the aftermath of a stampede which cost the life of one fan at the National sports stadium.
The condemnation of the National Sports stadium dramatizes the state of much of the dilapidated sporting and soccer infrastructure around the country except Barbourfields in Bulawayo.
According to a BBC report in December 2019, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) ruled that Zimbabwe’s National Sports Stadium in Harare no longer meets their standards to host international matches. ZIFA spokesman Xolisani Gwesela was quoted by the BBC at the time stating that “Caf has even warned us that failure to upgrade the stadiums could mean that in future we will be forced to play our home matches in neighbouring countries.”
Meanwhile, since Joy Antipas stepped down from the national coach’s position after he was appointed in an interim capacity, ZIFA has not been able to appoint a substantive coach for the warriors. Any coach will need time to prepare the team if it is to qualify for the World cup finals for the first time, knowing the players, drilling his style of play and discipline as well as proactively engaging in the strengthening and consolidation of national soccer structures.
With administrative chaos, infighting and bungling at ZIFA HQ, very little if any, is being done only three months before the qualifiers for the global soccer jamboree, the World Cup. ZIFA also faces serious financial constraints, without support from government and the private sectors, the situation looks hopeless.
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