adminThe Zone Six Games roar into life from 7-16 December in Lusaka, Zambia and the men’s Under-17 and women’s Under-20 draw was conducted on Monday.
Zimbabwe will be represented by the women’s Under-20 team only.
Zimbabwe failed to fulfil the second leg tie with Zifa coming up with flimsy excuse on the failure and the continental mother body, Confederation of African Football (Caf) immediately slapped the nation with a three-year ban from all competitions.
The ban by Caf came barely a few weeks after another developmental side, the Under-20 were handed a similar ban for their failure to fulfil a second leg tie against Angola.
“The Zambian games will feature a 10-team men’s Under-17 competition and a four-team women’s Under-20 event that will serve as the Southern African Championships in these age-groups for this year. The men’s Under-17 tournament sees the 10 countries split into two groups of five teams. Group A consists of hosts Zambia, South Africa, Malawi, Botswana and Seychelles while Group B has Angola, Namibia, Swaziland, Mauritius and Lesotho.
“The matches will be played at the Nkoloma Stadium and Zanaco Sunset Stadium in Lusaka,” said a Caf statement after the draw in Lusaka on Monday.
There is no sign of Zimbabwe, a suggestion that the Caf ban has taken immediate effect with the youngsters being denied an opportunity to shine, especially at a competition where they have generally done well and at one time they won it.
The Under-17 technical team is headed by Lloyd Chigova with the 1993 Soccer Star of the Year and Zimbabwe Saints legend Agent Sawu assisting him.
The women’s Under-20 competition will see only four countries, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and hosts Zambia competing.
The semi-finals feature the team that finishes first in the pool taking on the bottom side, while second placed meets third. The third-place play-off will be played on 14 December, with the final scheduled for Nkoloma Stadium two days later.
Fixtures for the women’s Under-20 competition at the 2012 Zone VI Games
7 December: Zimbabwe v Namibia 13h00 (Nkoloma); Zambia v South Africa 20h00 ( Nkoloma);
9 December: South Africa v Namibia 15h00 (Nkoloma); Zambia v. Zimbabwe 18h00 (Nkoloma)
11 December: Zimbabwe v South Africa 13h00 (Zanaco); Namibia v Zambia 16h00 (Zanaco)
Online Reporter