The uncertainty over the availability of England-based Warriors stars for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers is the reason why the Warriors squad for the crucial encounters announcement has been delayed, it has emerged.

Zimbabwe take on neighbours South Africa in Harare on September 3, before travelling to Ethiopia three days later but just like in the last Afcon qualifiers in March, preparations have been marred by the possibility of England-based players being absent.

In an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19, the British government has enforced mandatory quarantine of up to ten days, for all returnees coming back into the United Kingdom from countries listed as ‘Red Zones’ of the global pandemic.

If clubs do allow players to travel to their respective countries for the games, they will miss a number of matches due to the mandatory quarantine, a setback most clubs are not comfortable with.

So far, Liverpool have written to the Egyptian FA advising them that they will not release star forward Mohamed Salah, for the Word Cup qualifiers a stance most likely to be followed by all teams.

The United Kingdom is home to Warriors stars Marvellous Nakamba, Tendayi Darikwa, Admiral Muskwe, Jordan Zemura, Brendan Galloway and David Moyo.

The delay in the squad announcement, based on information gathered by this publication from well-placed sources at ZIFA, is due to that uncertainty over the availability of England-based stars.