AFCON Qualifiers, Local Matches To Be Played In Empty Stadiums

Following Friday’s announcement that local football can resume, it has emerged that all local matches, for now, will be played behind closed doors, The Sunday News reports. This includes the AFCON qualifiers between Zimbabwe and Algeria which will be played at the National Sports stadium next month.

This was revealed by PSL Chairman Farai Jere who said for now they were not even thinking about allowing fans into the stadiums:

…..As things stand, we are not thinking about allowing fans into the grounds as we seek to follow international standards to ensure the safety of the players and that we do not become a conduit for the spread of the corona virus. However, remember the situation is fluid and maybe by the time the games start something magical would have happened and we let fans in

Stakeholders have even reportedly suggested that ZIFA introduces a bubble for local teams just like how the South Africans and the Americans did in order to protect the players:

A mini-league concept has been proposed using the bubble idea, with activities to be strictly controlled Questions have, however, been raised about the affordability of the bubble, which would require the competing teams to stay isolated from the general public for the duration of the competition. South Africa used the bubble concept to finish off their 2019/20 Premier Soccer League season.

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ZIFA is yet to finalize on a lot of things concerning the resumption of football as communicated by the football administration’s spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela who said:

We are still studying the letter from the SRC, we will advise on the way forward in due course.

More: The Sunday News