Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) yesterday said a provisional decision awaiting approval from the government, CAF and FIFA could see local football resuming in August or September this year.
The current COVID-19 and subsequent national lockdown has affected the Premier Soccer League season which was supposed to start in March forcing the local football mother body to come up with a new calendar.
The global pandemic has affected sporting activities across the globe with the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Germany Bundesliga and Italian Serie A among the major football leagues on suspended since March.
In a statement yesterday, ZIFA said once they get the greenlight form the government, football will likely have to resume in August/September
‘‘In its meeting on May 3, 2020, the ZIFA Emergency Committee also noted that other football associations were planning to resume football operations around August/September 2020 and has tentatively set this date as to when our leagues will commence should our Government announce the complete end of the lockdown any day before the envisaged dates,’’ the association said in a statement yesterday.
‘‘The resumption of football activities will also be done in consultation with CAF and FIFA.
‘‘For ZIFA, should the season begin in September, (this) will see us also aligning our football calendar with the rest of the world,” ZIFA further stated.
Should the changes become effective, it would mean that local leagues will be in sync with European leagues, an idea which had long been proposed for the local game.
