Zim in Chan tourney draw

Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter

CAF yesterday included Zimbabwe in the draw for the Chan tournament despite throwing the country out of the Afcon qualifiers for not reinstating Felton Kamambo and his suspended Zifa board early this week.

Fifa suspended Zimbabwe in February, citing undue interference by a third party after the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) suspended the entire Zifa board over maladministration and alleged sexual abuse of female referees.

Caf initially included Zimbabwe in the draw for the 2023 Afcon qualifiers on condition that Zifa gets the Fifa suspension lifted, but threw out the country after it failed to get the decision reversed by the prescribed time.

Zimbabwe had been drawn in Group K of the Afcon qualifiers with Liberia, Morocco and South Africa and their ejection leaves three teams in the group, with the top two qualifying for the tournament.

Zimbabwe’s inclusion in the draw shows that Caf is leaving the window open for Zimbabwe to participate should Zifa solve its issues with Fifa.

In a draw released yesterday, Zimbabwe were paired against Malawi in the first-round, with the winner set to play the winner of the match between Mozambique and Zambia.

The qualifiers will start on August 26.

Only three teams from the Southern Zone will qualify for the 2022 Chan finals scheduled for Algeria from January 8-31, 2023.

Chan is a tournament for players based in their countries’ domestic leagues and the finals will feature 18 teams up from 16 in previous editions.

Caf says the finals will have five groups; three of which will have four nations, while the other two will comprise three teams.

It means the top two from the four-team groups will be joined in the quarter-finals by the winners of the other two pools.

Chan Southern Zone draw

First Round

M1 – Mauritius vs Angola

M2 – Comoros vs South Africa

M3 – Botswana vs Eswatini

M4 – Seychelles vs Madagascar

M5 – Malawi vs Zimbabwe