ZIFA board meet to discuss proposals “The public is reminded that this is a sensitive subject and that they should not take unfounded steps that could compromise the investigations,” read a Zifa statement yesterday.

Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
THE ZIFA board were last night scheduled to meet to discuss the proposals by Government for a possible return to football under a bio-bubble concept.

Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Minister, Kirsty Coventry, this week tasked ZIFA to look at various proposals, including the feasibility of the game being played, in a secure “bio-bubble” environment.

One of the options could be having a mini-league, this year, as the first step towards the resumption of the game. The national game, which has been classified under the high-risk sport code, has been on hold since March, under the national lockdown measures meant to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Coventry said the Government remained committed to go the extra mile to give ZIFA the institutional, and technical support, they need for the safe return of football.

“We need to give them respect, for them to go back to their boards and discuss,’’ said Coventry.

“We will be able to announce sometime, once the boards have discussed.

“I think just to be respectful to everyone and the powers that be, we need to allow for ZIFA, PSL and women’s board to have those conversations.

“We seek guidance from them, in terms of timelines, and we will be able to come back to you once they have had those discussions.”

Coventry said the Government remained keen to assist the football authorities, in every way possible since sport, particularly football, was part of the heart and soul of the nation.

The “bio-bubble” concept, proposed by the ministry, has been successful in many countries where it was applied.

The concept, where players, officials and critical staff are isolated from the outside world, after testing negative, to minimise the risk of Covid-19 infection, needs resources to implement.

“That is where we are asking for everyone to be a little bit patient, because those are the things that we are all discussing right now,’’ said Coventry.

“How will it work, how will the modalities work?

“There are a lot of questions, in terms of the concept, what will this be like, how much will this be, is this even feasible?

“We have to have those discussions and that’s why I was saying if you give us this week, to have those discussions, come up with an affirmative plan and idea that has got buy-in from everyone around the table, then we will be able to give everyone a breakdown of how we think it will work.’’

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