HARARE – The Zimbabwe Football Association requested the Confederation of African Football to postpone the African Nations Championship getting underway in Cameroon on January 16, citing the coronavirus pandemic.
Zimbabwe’s preparations for the African Nations Championship have suffered a major setback with nine of the squad testing positive for coronavirus.
Croatian coach Zdravko Logarusic temporarily suspended training after players and support staff were tested when they returned to a camp in Harare having spent Christmas at their homes.
Zimbabwe tackle hosts Cameroon in Yaounde on January 16 in the tournament opener and will also play Burkina Faso and Mali in Group A with the teams finishing first and second advancing to the quarter-finals.
The Warriors’ preparations have suffered a further setback after the government announced a national lockdown, including a ban on sporting activities. ZIFA has asked the Sport and Recreation Commission for a waiver for training to resume.
“We have proposed to CAF that the tournament be postponed to safeguard the health of the players since Covid-19 cases have been on the rise across the continent,” ZIFA communications chief Xolisani Gwesela said.
“CAF have written to us enquiring our position with regards to the Covid-19 cases and the additional lockdown measures that were announced at the weekend.
“We are yet to give a concrete response because we can only know the next step once we get the response from the SRC. We have sent our request to resume preparations as well as participate at the tournament and it’s being considered.
“At the moment we are grounded. Our players are still in quarantine and they will only be retested after 10 days (on Thursday) to see if there are any recoveries. We also have another group of players on standby.”
The CHAN tournament is a biennial continental competition exclusively for players playing in domestic leagues.
It is in its sixth edition this year and runs from January 16 to February 7.
