Despite the Zimbabwean Football Association saying the cancellation of their friendly against Zimbabwe was because of venue unavailability, new information has emerged.
The Football Association of Zambia released a statement, saying the match was not granted an international friendly status by FIFA.
Although ZIFA said the National Sports Stadium in Harare was booked for a wedding, it looks like their statement was not true.
Zambian authorities have revealed that the match, set for this weekend, was not sanctioned by the football world governing body FIFA and was therefore cancelled.
“The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) wishes to inform members of the general public and the football family that the planned friendly match between Zambia and Zimbabwe has been cancelled,” said FAZ’s Desmond Katongo.
“This was after the host nation through the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZFA) told FAZ that they were unable to host the match after FIFA informed them that the match was not going to be accorded international friendly status.”
The cancelled match was initially set to congratulate Zimbabwe’s new President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, but was changed to be a festive cheer for both sets of footballing nations’ fans.
