Deputy Minister of Sports Tino Machakaire is optimistic the country will host the World Cup qualifiers as efforts to renovate local stadiums remain high.

Barbourfields and the National Sports Stadium failed a preliminary inspection carried last month by CAF and Zimbabwe has until June 15 to finish the refurbishment before the second inspection.

Speaking to the Daily News, Machakaire said: “I’m very much confident that we will be ready when CAF return for the second inspection in June. It’s just that much of our progress was hindered by coronavirus which affected the whole world, otherwise, we could have covered a lot of ground.

“We will see how things progress in the following weeks. As soon as things normalise, we will put our efforts together to make sure the stadiums meet the minimum requirements. For now, it’s important to prioritise the health of everyone from the virus.”

Zimbabwe were supposed to host the March Afcon qualifiers on foreign soil, and fortunately, the games were suspended due to coronavirus.