Africa-Press – Tanzania. ZANZIBAR Football team’s head coach Hababuu Ali Omar said he has started a doing a through scrutiny of players who will form a strong Zanzibar Heroes squad for CONIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Zanzibar will host the CONIFA World Cup qualifiers in May this year. CONIFA is an international football tournament for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated with FIFA.
He said the squad will be announced after the end of the scrutinizing exercise. He said the selection of will be done in collaboration with his assistant coach Sheha Khamis.
The selection of the goalkeepers, according to the head coach, will be done by goalkeepers’ coach Mohamed Abbas.
“We are optimistic to have a formidable team because the players we are going to pick will be tailor-made for the CONIFA qualifiers,” he explained.
He said the players; most of them are those with vast experience in the international tournaments from big club playing in the Tanzania Mainland and Isles’ top flight leagues.
He said himself will select players serving in clubs based in the Mainland while his assistant will select quality players from teams playing in Zanzibar Premier League.
He thanked football stakeholders in the Isles for a support they have given since he appointed as Zanzibar Heroes Head Coach.
Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) is a football body for countries which are neither members of CAF nor the world football governing body, FIFA.
Zanzibar Football Federation(ZFF) President Seif Kombo Pandu, said only African countries which are not members of CAF are eligible to participate in the event.
He said through the tournament Africa will be able to find its envoys in the CONIFA World Cup to be staged in 2022. He said there are ten countries coming to Zanzibar for the event.
The countries are Zanzibar, Barotseland (Zambia), Matebeleland (Zimbabwe), Western Sahara, Kabyle (Algeria), Yorubaland(Nigeria), Biafra(Nigeria), Barawa (Somalia), Somali land, Chagos Island (Mauritius) and Lesotho.
Zanzibar took part in the CONIFA Championship in the finals staged in Kurdistan, Iraq in 2012.
