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Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter

THE Mighty Warriors will not be able to fully use their home advantage in next week’s Africa Women Cup of Nations football qualifier against Botswana at the National Sports Stadium as they will play in an empty stadium.

Zimbabwe host the neighbours in the first leg of the last qualifying round next Friday.

They travel to Francistown for the reverse leg on February 23.

And Botswana are likely to be backed by their supporters in that crunch tie that will see the winner of the two legs qualifying for the Africa Women Cup of Nations finals to be held in Morocco in July.

While Zimbabwe continue to play behind closed doors because of the Covid-19 pandemic, some national teams have been given permission by CAF to allow limited number of fully vaccinated supporters during the senior men’s World Cup matches.

CAF turned down Zimbabwe’s request to let in supporters. The National Sports Stadium is the only stadium provisional certified by CAF in Zimbabwe to host international matches but is yet to meet the continental body’s requirements.

The absence of buckets seats and electronic access controls are among the issues that CAF expect Zimbabwe to address before unrestricted approval to host matches are granted.

ZIFA confirmed this week that there won’t be any spectators during next week’s match, just like what transpired during the Warriors matches last year.

Renovations being done by the Government, through the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts, and Recreation, were delayed after some suppliers attempted to fleece the Government through inflated prices for the installation of buckets seats, leading to the cancellation of the exercise.

The Mighty Warriors have stepped up their preparations for the matches against Botswana and head coach Sithetheliwe “Kwinji 15” Sibanda believes the players are responding well to training.

The players have been inactive since they played against Eswatini in the first round of the AWCON qualifiers in November.

They beat Eswatini 6-1 on aggregate to book a date with the female Zebras of Botswana.

But Sibanda reckons that Botswana are tougher opposition and Zimbabwe would need to be at their strongest.

The Mighty Warriors’ inactivity might be a disadvantage to the team but the former midfielder is determined to prevail against the odds.

“We should be ready even if we are not going to be 100 percent fit. We should be ready for the match. The inactivity really is doing us no good. But if it’s the state of the affairs because of Covid-19 what can we do?

“This is what is there but we hope one day something will happen in women’s football. If it’s not the league, at least we could even have some tournaments to keep the players active so that when they come to the national team they are in a better shape,” said Sibanda.

The Mighty Warriors coach is also banking on the foreign-based players that are expected to join the rest of the squad early next week.

Mighty Warriors skipper and midfielder Emmaculate Msipa, Rudo Neshamba, who plays in Israel, Nigeria-based Berita Kabwe and Danai Bhobho of Tanzania’s SC Simba, have all confirmed their availability.

Speaking from Dar es Salaam, Mighty Warriors defender Bhobho told The Herald that she has made it her top priority to qualify for the Africa Women Cup of Nations.

“It is very special to qualify for a special tournament like this. I’m really prepared for these two games,” said Bhobho.

The former Cyclone Queens defender-cum-midfielder says her football has improved since she moved to East Africa last year.

Bhobho joined the Tanzanian topflight league champions Simba Stars Queens on a two-year contract last year in June.

And she says the move has shaped her career.

“Football is really organised here. The league is organised and women’s football is taken seriously,” said Bhobho.

The local league has been in limbo since Covid-19 affected the game in 2020. ZIFA have failed to manage the resumption of the league.