Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican Football Federation (FMF) has been fined 256,000 meticais by CAF for the poor condition of the pitch at the Zimpeto National Stadium (ENZ). The FMF says that the replacement of the grass will only be possible next November.
Planted in 2010 when Zimpeto was built, the natural turf of the pitch has been suffering wear over time, due in part to the use of the pitch for activities other than sports.
Strictly speaking, and after interventions by the CAF regarding the hosting of international matches, the Zimpeto turf should have been completely replaced in December 2020, and the Sports Promotion Fund (FPD) signed a contract with the company responsible for the pitch to that effect.
But the process did not move forward because the South African companies importing natural grass were closed for the festive season. The managers of the Zimpeto Sports Complex therefore rescheduled the four-month process for the second half of January.
In other words, four months would go by before the pitch was up to international standards, threatening that the national stadium would be unable to host a match with Cape Verde scheduled for March 31.
Worse was to follow. In a scenario where only the ENZ is rated to host international matches in Mozambique, turf replacement was postponed until after the March and June matches.
The start of the qualifying phase for the next World Cup was scheduled for June 5th, but will now only start in September, with games also taking place in October and November.
This postponement then combined with the impact on the ENZ managers’ plan of the increase in COVID-19 cases around the world, FIFA and CAF decreeing that some participating countries were unable to compete safely in June.
Because the turf must be replaced in summer, and in conjunction with the Mambas’ calendar, the Sports Promotion Fund projects the beginning of the process for November.
On 4 September, the Mambas will host Côte d’Ivoire in a qualifying match for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Mozambique is in Group D, along with Cameroon, the Ivory Coast and Malawi.
Even with interventions to enable the hosting host of CAN qualifying matches, the poor condition of the mat during the March clash with Cape Verde, which saw the Mambas exit CAN-2021, did not go unnoticed by African football’s governing body, according to FMF president Feizal Sidat.
“We were notified by CAF and then fined. If the pitch remains in poor condition, we will be fined again, and with an increase,” Sidat explained.
By
Aristides Cavele
