Football fans have been left in serious confusion after state run Herald Newspaper ran a back page headline story on Thursday claiming that Zimbabwe senior men’s soccer team is in Algeria for a 2021 Africa Cup of Nations encounter against the Desert Foxes of Algeria.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) postponed the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2021, Africa’s main football competition over COVID-19 a fortnight ago.

In a statement, CAF said that “following the growing concerns of the COVID-19 virus and the declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) describing it as a pandemic, CAF has decided to postpone the competitions until further notice”.

The matches postponed were scheduled to kick off from 25 to 31 March for Men’s qualifiers and 27-29 March for women’s Under 20 World Cup Qualifiers.

Women’s AFCON 2020 Qualifiers scheduled for 8-14 April were also postponed.

“Coronavirus has been declared as a pandemic by WHO. In Africa, only few cases have been reported, but the situation could evolve negatively. Several players, who are supposed to play the next Afcon qualifiers, come from countries which have been severely affected by the virus (Europe, Asia),” the statement read.

“Several African governments have taken strong restrictions on travels; lock down, quarantine for people coming from countries affected by the virus. Several clubs refuse now to release their players for the next international matches.

“For the above reasons and after studying carefully the current situation, Caf has decided to postpone the Total Africa Cup of Nations 2021 qualifiers, scheduled from 25 to 31 March 2020.”

The Herald through a story written by renowned sports writer Robson Sharuko who claims to be in Algeria with the team says that the match will be a stern test for new coach Zdravko Logarusic.

“Zdravko Logarusic is set to get a baptism of fire tonight, the toughest possible maiden assignment for any coach working in Africa, when his Warriors take on the defending champions in a 2021 AFCON qualifier here,” Sharuko wrote from Blida in Angola.

Press here to read the full Herald article.