ZIFA have set either August or September as the months for the possible start of the domestic football season, pending authority from the Government, CAF and FIFA, in what could be a conversion, by default, to the calendar used predominantly in Europe.

CAF have also been realigning their football programme to fit into the August-May calendar, something which the Premier Soccer League here have been fighting for since Farai Jere became chairman two years ago.

Although the proposal by the top-flight league was rejected, amid concern from the lower leagues that they had not been consulted fully and the poor state of the stadia could complicate issues during the rainy season, it appears the change is now attracting growing support.

Already, the Division One clubs have said that, if the Covid-19 outbreak is contained, they will have no problems having their leagues starting in August this year.

The domestic football programme, which was supposed to start in March this year, has been paralysed by the Covid-19 outbreak which has also halted sport around the world.

The ZIFA leaders held an emergency meeting on Sunday and resolved that, should authorities give them the greenlight, local football will start either in August or September this year.

‘‘In its meeting on May 3, 2020, the ZIFA Emergency Committee also noted that other football associations were planning to resume football operations around August/September 2020 and has tentatively set this date as to when our leagues will commence should our Government announce the complete end of the lockdown any day before the envisaged dates,’’ the association said in a statement yesterday.-State media