UNCERTAINTY over the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group H back-to-back qualifiers between Zimbabwe and Algeria grew yesterday after it emerged that South Africa which is set to host one of the matches has closed its doors due to coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns.
BY HENRY MHARA
The Warriors are scheduled to travel to Algiers on March 26 for a match set for Blida, the epicentre of that country’s worst coronavirus outbreak. The return leg will be played three days later.
The Zimbabwe government has raised a red flag over the trip and want the match postponed.
Zifa has since written to the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to have the match postponed or moved to another country as concerns over the threat of the deadly virus grow.
Algeria are pushing to have the match played behind closed doors, while their Zimbabwean counterparts believe it is too high a risk to take as countries across the world battle to protect their citizens from the deadly virus.
Caf insist that the Afcon qualifiers across the continent should go ahead as scheduled. But countries such as Rwanda and Lesotho have suspended all international sports engagements with the later completing shutting its borders to curb the outbreak.
Other countries, especially in Europe, have suspended land and air travel with the worst-hit countries, and have banned public and social gatherings including football matches in the wake of the virus outbreak, which has been declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO) a “global pandemic”.
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In Europe, Real Madrid have placed their entire football and basketball teams under quarantine, while La Liga matches have been suspended. Two Serie A players have also tested positive for the virus. Italy suspended sporting events until April 3.
It emerged yesterday that South African, which has been picked as an alternate by Zifa to host the return match against Algeria after all Zimbabwe stadiums were banned by Caf, are not too keen to welcome the North Africans.
Algerian Health ministry also confirmed the country’s first death from the coronavirus yesterday while schools and universities have been closed.
“It appears the South African government is now reluctant to host the match between Algeria and Zimbabwe due to coronavirus concerns,” a source at Zifa said yesterday.
South Africa is also grappling to contain the spread of the virus and the number of infections had ballooned to 17 by yesterday.
Zifa had hoped to use Orlando Stadium in Soweto for the match on March 29, but it emerged yesterday that the South African Football Association (Safa) has indicated that the facility is no longer available.
This was revealed by Zifa who were giving oral evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Sports yesterday.
Zifa said they were engaging Safa to explore the possibility of using Dobsonville Stadium across town in Soweto.
“A Zifa executive member Brighton Malandule is already in South Africa and is scheduled to meet Safa and SA government officials today. They have also invited officials from the Zimbabwe embassy for the meeting,” said another source yesterday.
“We understand that Safa had wanted to have the match played under closed doors, but the rising cases of the coronavirus infections in Algeria have alarmed them and that is the reason why they have decided to engage their government.”
“But with the drastic measures that the South African government is taking to control the spread of the disease, it’s highly unlikely that they will accept the idea of hosting the Algerian team at this moment. It’s just too risky,” the source added.
A World Football Summit which was scheduled to start in Durban, South Africa, on Tuesday, has since been cancelled and reports suggest that league matches could be suspended as the country battles to contain the spread of the virus.
There are fears that even if Caf insist to have the tie between Zimbabwe and Algeria to go ahead, the two countries might fail to have their European based stars for the matches.
Most European clubs have indicated that they will not release their players for international duty because of fear they might have problems returning.
Most European nations are putting people who have visited affected countries through a two week quarantine period.
Both Algeria and Zimbabwe have key players based in Europe.
The global death toll from the virus had surpassed 4 600 yesterday, with over 127 500 confirmed cases, according to WHO.
The virus originated in China’s Wuhan city last December and it has reached more than 100 countries so far.
