The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
TEN-MAN FC Platinum drew 0-0 away against Grupo Desportivo Sagrada Esperança of Angola in a Confederation of African Football Champions League first preliminary round, first leg fixture at Estádio Municipal dos Coqueiros in Luanda yesterday.
Norman Mapeza’s men ended the match with 10 players on the park after Kelvin Mangiza was sent off in the second-half after picking up a second yellow card but his team managed to hold on till the end. The two teams will meet in the second leg at the National Sports Stadium on Saturday.
Mapeza was satisfied with the match outcome considering that not much football has taken place in Zimbabwe for almost two years now because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kelvin Mangiza
“I am happy with the result, we haven’t played football in Zimbabwe for one year eight months because of Covid-19, we started training three weeks ago so I am happy with the draw,’’ Mapeza said.
Meanwhile, FC Platinum are the only Zimbabwean club licensed by the Caf for the 2021/22 season. On Friday, Caf released the list of clubs that met the criteria for being licensed to take part in continental competitions. In a statement, the continental football governing body said as part of the engagement to the Caf inter-club competitions 2021-22 season, a club licensing procedure was conducted at the level of members associations for the clubs qualified to the Champions League and Confederation Cup.
Caf further stated that the inter-club competitions regulatory framework stipulates that all clubs (licence applicants) intending to participate in the Caf interclub competitions season 2021-22, must undergo the club licensing process with their respective member association (licensor).
“All clubs that qualify on sporting merit for Caf club competitions must be granted a licence before they can actually take part in the competition. The licence confirms that each club has met Caf minimum standards. The Caf member association acts as the licensor, assessing each applicant according to five criteria: sporting, infrastructure, personnel and administrative, legal and financial,’’ read part of the Caf statement.
The deadline date of 15 July 2021 was set by Caf for receiving the licensing decisions for the clubs affiliated to the member associations for their participation in the two competitions.
In the end, a total of 54 clubs were licensed for the Champions League, while for the Confederation Cup, a total of 52 clubs were granted a licence at the level of their respective member association. — Follow on Twitter @Mdawini_29.
