CAF says Zimbabwe Warriors match will go ahead, SA refuses to host Zim-Algeria AFCON encounter

DESPITE other sporting bodies cancelling their competitions due to the ravaging effects of the Coronavirus globally, the Confederation of African Football says all its scheduled competitions will go ahead as planned.

In a statement released on Wednesday night, Caf said it was monitoring the evolution of the disease noting that no African country has to date been declared a high-risk area.

“CAF wishes to inform Member Associations and the entire African football family that we are closely monitoring the evolution of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) around the world and in particular the African continent. According to World Health Organization (WHO), no African country till date has been declared a high risk.

Consequently, CAF has decided to maintain the schedule of all competitions. Also, CAF has been informed of the restrictive measures taken by the authorities of some Member Associations and is in contact to find solutions on a case-by-case basis, with the option of the organization of matches behind closed doors.

South Africa no longer wants to host Zimbabwe-Algeria match?

Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) president Felton Kamambo said that the South Africans have reneged on an agreement to avail Orlando Stadium for the upcoming Warriors Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Algeria later this month.

Kamambo told a Parliament Committee on Thursday that the South African Football Association (SAFA) informed ZIFA on Wednesday that the match venue was no longer available for use for the game.

Said Kamambo:

Initially, they said Orlando was available, but they wrote to us yesterday saying the venue was no longer available.

The only available stadium is Dobsonville in the same area, but, technically, we have not yet secured it because SAFA needs to engage their government first and inform that there are two countries coming to South Africa.

Other reports say South Africa will likely not allow the match to go ahead because of the CoronaVirus pandemic.