adminThe second leg is set for 5 June at the Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium in Bujumbura.
Normally clubs release their players for national duty immediately after their matches on Sunday but in this case, it means clubs have to release the players on 22 February, meaning they will then miss the weekend matches and the former Darryn T and Galatasaray player doubts that clubs will comply and appealed to Zifa to engage Caf on the issue with a view of pushing the match to a weekend date.
“The date really presents us with challenges in terms of having the players we want in camp on time and I really hope Zifa will engage the continental mother body on this issue and the sooner the better,” said Mapeza in a telephone interview from the capital yesterday.
However, Caf has never been known to lend a listening ear to any requests from Southern African countries unless Zifa president Cuthbert Dube has other influences.
Zimbabwe missed out on the sole ticket to this year’s edition of the biennial African showpiece after a combination of administrative and technical blunders from both the coaches and Zifa.
The road to Equatorial Guinea and Gabon began on a thorny patch after Belgian Tom Saintfiet was hired only for Zifa to fail to get him a work permit resulting in squabbles and tension among board members surfacing after it emerged that some board members were actually against the Belgian’s appointment to the post.
He was eventually deported leading to Zifa appointing joint coaches, the legendary Madinda Ndlovu and Mapeza and it is that drawn match against visiting Cape Verde Island that eventually cost the nation a slot, with Mali winning the group to go through.
Meanwhile, there is a planned international friendly between the Warriors and the Flames of Malawi mid next month and Mapeza is likely to use the same players that he travelled with to Botswana earlier this month.
The squad was made up of locally based players and since the match falls outside the Fifa calendar, the foreign legion will definitely not be available.
“If the match is confirmed I will have to rely on our local guys as the match is outside the Fifa calendar,” said Mapeza.
Most teams are busy with their pre-season preparations and Mapeza might face the same predicament of clubs refusing to release their players perhaps for fear of unnecessary injuries which might even last until the start of the 2012 season in March.
Online Reporter