ZIFA has dismissed reports suggesting that it has turned down an invitation from their Mozambican counterparts for the Warriors to play a friendly match in the coming international break.

The national team were supposed to play in the World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Ethiopia but the games were suspended due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

And efforts to arrange a friendly to fill up the window failed after the association recently revealed that it is facing financial constraints.

A report in the Herald then claimed that local football body has even turned down the opportunity provided by Mozambique who would have paid for all expenses.

In response, ZIFA rubbished the invitation letter cited by the publication, calling it unauthentic.

A statement from the association said: “ZIFA did not receive any invitation from our colleagues at the Mozambican Football Federation for a friendly match. Consequently, the letter that was cited verbatim in the story is a fictitious newsroom creation which casts a huge shadow on the credibility of The Herald as a reliable publicly owned newspaper.

“We have also confirmed with Mozambique Football Federation Chief Executive Officer Hilario Madeira about the authenticity of the letter and he indicated that the letter is fake and it was never generated from their Federation.

“We have requested the said letter from the Herald and the letter does not bear any signature, neither is it clearly addressed to the General Secretary. The crest on the MFF letterhead is also not correct.”