The Warriors’ friendly game against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon that was supposed to take place this Tuesday has been called off.
Zimbabwe had lined up two friendly matches against Sudan and Cameroon in preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals that kick off on 9 January.
The Warriors played Sudan on Sunday and this could be their only preparatory match in Cameroon before the tournament starts.
Team manager Wellington Mpandare on Sunday confirmed to The Herald that the proposed match with the Indomitable Lions will no longer take place. He said:
That game is no longer possible. Cameroon wanted to use the match venue for their opening game in the tournament but CAF advised that the venue is not available for use by any team five days before the start of the tournament, in line with the tournament rules.
So the Cameroonians wanted us to play on Monday (today) but we felt it was not ideal to play two games in successive days since we had another game lined up against Sudan (yesterday).
Cameroon wanted to use the Paul Biya Stadium as the venue for the friendly match with Zimbabwe.
The stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 33rd AFCON edition.
The opening ceremony will take place this Sunday and will be followed by the match between the hosts, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.