The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
FORMER Zimbabwe Football Association vice president, Omega Sibanda on Tuesday officiated at a Futsal (played with five-aside players) 2020 Africa Futsal Cup of Nations qualifier between Angola and Zambia.
The second leg of the qualifier saw Sibanda being appointed match commissioner. Angola won the match 9-1 to clinch the two legged qualifier 13-1 on aggregate. The match was played in Luanda’s Pavilhao da Cidadela stadium and the result means Angola heads for finals scheduled for Morocco next year.
The top three teams at the event will then proceeds to the 2020 Futsal World Cup that will be held in Lithuania next September.
Sibanda said the sport is very popular in Angola with a crowd of over 5 000 spectators attending the match.
“The sport has grown in other countries and here in Zimbabwe we have a chance to build it. There is a lot of cash within that game as it is self-sponsoring. I think we are taking long to tap into futsal although I believe there is quite room for it to grow exponentially,” he said.
Other match officials for the match included referee, Sipho Machbeth Mahlangu (South Africa), assistant referee, Tshililo Cedric Muvhali (South Africa), assistant referee, Matendene Santos Mahumana (Mozambique) and time keeper, Hilario Armando Vicente Almoco Time (Mozambique).
The 2020 Africa Futsal Cup of Nations will be the 6th edition of the quadrennial international futsal championship organised by Caf for the men’s national teams of Africa. The tournament will run 17 to 26 April in Morocco. The 2020 Fifa Futsal World Cup will be the 9th edition and will run from 12 September to 4 October in Lithuania.
Futsal is a variant of association football played on a hard court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is the goalkeeper. Unlimited substitutions are permitted
