By Sindiso Dube
ZIFA’S top brass will get a chance to exchange notes on football development with about 200 representatives from across the continent when they attend a seminar at the Mohamed VI Football Complex in Salé, Morocco.
The symposium, which is being organised by Fifa and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), is scheduled for February 1. Fifa president Gianni Infantino and his CAF counterpart Ahmad Ahmad will be in attendance before presiding over an all-important CAF executive meeting set for the following day.
According to sources, Zifa would send representatives.
Zimbabwe is in a football infrastructure crisis after all stadiums were condemned from hosting CAF and Fifa games, save for Barbourfields Stadium.
CAF also warned Zifa to upgrade the stadiums and failure could see Zimbabwe playing its home matches in neighbouring countries.
Meanwhile, Africa’s top Futsal nations will jostle for three Fifa Futsal World Cup spots when they meet at the sixth edition of the qualifier tournament to be held in Laayoun, Morocco.
Eight nations will descend on the North African country and begin their quest to book places at the 2020 Fifa Futsal World Cup on Tuesday with the final set for February 7.
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Futsal is a variant of association football played on a hard court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football.
Hosts Morocco are the defending champions and will face-off with Libya, Equatorial Guinea and debutants Mauritius in Group A. Group B pits record three-time champions Egypt, Guinea, Angola and Mozambique.
“We are delighted as a country to be hosting this event,” read a Morocco Royal Football Federation statement.
“We believe because of our readiness and existing facilities, CAF has seen it fit for us to once again to play host to one of their prestigious tournaments where the top three coming from this tournament will head to the World Cup in Lithuania later this year.”
The federation expressed hope that hosting the event would give more impetus on the sport growing in the North African country.
Egypt, who last won the tournament in 2004, are the most successful team in African Futsal history with three titles.
The event is held under the auspices of CAF for the men’s national teams.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals.
Semi-final winners and third-place winners qualify for the Fifa Futsal World Cup. The qualifying three African teams will make up the 24 countries at the World Cup.
The 2020 World Cup finals are scheduled for September 12 to October 4 in Lithuania.
