The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) is yet to finalise the venue of the Warriors’ 2026 World Cup qualifier against Nigeria on 20 November.
ZIFA Normalisation Committee chairperson Lincoln Mutasa told The Sunday Mail that the senior team may host the Super Eagles in Rwanda. Said Mutasa:
We are working on hosting Nigeria in Rwanda and we are going to inform football stakeholders about it once discussions have been finalised.
The Warriors take on Rwanda in Kigali on 13 November before hosting Nigeria a week later.
Mutasa conceded that ZIFA will incur huge costs in staging the Warriors’ assignments “home away from home”. He said:
Yes, there are financial losses to be incurred but this is a sticky situation that we find ourselves in.
What saddens us the most is that supporters will miss an opportunity to watch their beloved team at home after a long time without international football.
While we would have wanted to get revenue from the match, what is important for us is to give footballers a rare opportunity to play the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
You can never put a cost to that.
Naturally, the football association foots its own bills, if it is within their means, but help from our partners will be accepted.
Last week, the Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture Deputy Minister Emily Jesaya told senators that ZIFA was yet to notify the Ministry about plans to host the Warriors match in Rwanda.
Meanwhile, ZIFA failed to arrange international friendly matches for the Warriors in the recent international break.
The Warriors ended up playing a practice match against a Northern Region select side, which they lost 3-1.
More: Pindula News