Following a decision by CAF to bar Zimbabwe from hosting any international games because of the poor state of local stadiums, Zifa has released a statement confirming their next move ahead of a busy month in March.

The senior men’s national team will be in action against Algeria in the 2020 Afcon qualifiers while the U20 girls will play Ethiopia in the World Cup qualifiers.

According to the statement, local football body will appeal against the decision with a hope of bringing the games on home soil as soon as possible.

But at the moment, Zifa is already looking for an alternative venue in the neighbouring countries to host the upcoming matches.

“While ZIFA is engaging CAF with a view to appeal this decision, we have asked stadium authorities to send us commitment letters detailing timelines on work that needs to be done before CAF comes for another inspection. Once we receive such commitment, we will send to CAF,” reads the statement.

“In this moment we urge all stakeholders to work for a common cause for us to quickly right this wrong which takes away our sovereignty. We have been using stadiums which do not meet CAF and FIFA standards for a while now, but we need to put our heads together as a country to ensure that our stadiums are renovated to meet required standards.”

“We unreservedly apologise to all football stakeholders for inconveniences that the decision has brought.

“We are hopeful that everyone who has influence to expedite the process of bringing our teams back home will do their part.

“Meanwhile , we have also started the process of looking for an alternative venue in neighbouring countries to host our upcoming matches.”