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THERE will be no CHAN appearance for the Warriors after they were officially disqualified from the tournament.
The Warriors were scheduled to play Malawi in the first round of the qualifiers next week.
The condition was that the Sports Commission should have reinstated the Felton Kamambo-led ZIFA board.
CAF said the Warriors would only be allowed to take part in the CHAN qualifiers in the event Zimbabwe’s suspension by FIFA was lifted.
However, just like in the AFCON qualifiers, the SRC refused to budge, arguing that the processes, to try and bring normalcy to Zimbabwe football, should be completed.
Kamambo and his colleagues were also recalled by the ZIFA Congress.
Gift Banda, who was the ZIFA vice-president, has been handed the authority to lead the association.
Farai Jere, Barbra Chikosi and Sugar Chagonda were retained on the ZIFA board.
Following the lapse of the grace period, CAF have now taken the decision to bar the Warriors from the qualifiers, which get underway next week. The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) confirmed the development in a statement on Wednesday.
“The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Tuesday confirmed that the Flames are through to the second round of the 2022 CHAN qualifiers without kicking a ball following Zimbabwe’s failure to get their FIFA suspension lifted.
“Malawi was drawn against Zimbabwe in the first round of the qualifiers.
“However, CAF indicated that the fixture will go ahead only if Zimbabwe’s FIFA suspension is lifted two weeks before the first match which was scheduled for July 23, 2022.”
A letter from CAF to FAM confirming the development reads:
“We are referring to the suspension of the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) by FIFA Congress from all football activities.
“Unfortunately, the association of Zimbabwe did not fulfill the criteria set by FIFA congress and is still under suspension.
“Therefore, we hereby confirm to you that the clause indicated in the draw procedures is applied: In case the suspension of Zimbabwe FA is not lifted two weeks before its first match, it will be considered loser and eliminated from the competition.
“Consequently, all the matches of Zimbabwe in the frame of the 1st round of the qualifiers of CHAN 2022 are now cancelled and consequently Malawi is qualified to the 2nd round of the qualifiers.”
The Flames will face the winner between Zambia and Mozambique in the second round of the qualifiers.
This the third time in two months that the country has been disqualified from an international competition due to the FIFA ban.
The Warriors were barred from participating in the AFCON 2023 qualifiers and are not taking part in the ongoing 2022 COSAFA Cup.
Online Reporter