Zimbabwe: Loga's contract could run out before a single game

By Robson Sharuko

What are the chances of Zdravko Logarusic completing his two-year contract as the Warriors coach without taking charge of the team in any AFCON or World Cup qualifiers?

Sounds a bit extreme, isn't it?

After all, there's still more than one-and-half years of his contract still to be completed, given the Croat has only been in the job for just four months.

Under normal circumstances the Croat, who signed a two-year contract with ZIFA in January, would have already taken charge of the Warriors in, at least, five matches.

That is, two back-to-back 2021 AFCON qualifiers and three 2020 CHAN finals group games.

But, as international football continues to reel from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, and fears grow of a possible second outbreak of the pandemic later this year, the space for football is being squeezed out.

While next year looks like a long time away, the congested programme, in the event football resumes, with the Euros, Copa America and the Olympics set for that period, the windows for the 2021 AFCON and 2022 World Cup qualifying matches are being squeezed out.

Victor Montagliani, the Canadian heading a FIFA working group looking at how best world football could deal with the Covid-19 crisis, has already said he believes the September, October and November windows for national team matches could be scrapped this year.

"I personally think that might be a bit of a challenge, not so much because of just the health issues around the world and the various degrees of preparedness, but also committing to international travel as soon as we come back," Montagliani told the Associated Press.

"I think that domestic football is a priority. September is still in the books, but I would garner to say that I'm not sure it's there on solid ground the way things are trending right now."

And, UEFA executive committee member, Lars-Christer Olsson, said they have now adopted a "wait-and-see" attitude to see if the 2022 World Cup would be held in Qatar from November 21-December 18 as originally scheduled.

He made the remarks when asked during a Soccerex webinar how long he thought the international calendar could be affected,

"Probably two or three years I think," he said. "If the virus is developing in an even more serious way, as it's been for the time being, there will definitely be a problem with the international calendar.

"When some of the competitions are moved from one year to another . . . and then the Qatar World Cup is coming in the middle of the European season and you have to squeeze in domestic and international competitions.

"But I think we have to wait and see how that is going to affect the business."

That could affect the AFCON and World Cup qualifying calendars.

And, now, some influential voices in African football are saying the 2021 Nations Cup finals, set for Cameroon in January next year, should either be cancelled, or postponed.

"The most important thing is that we come out of the Covid-19 danger, and we will always have time to organise this AFCON," Cameroonian legend, Samuel Etoó, who is an adviser of CAF president Ahmad Ahmad, told France24 this week.

"It is already confirmed for Cameroon. After that, it will just be a question of the date.

"The most important thing, and African football authorities have understood this, is health. I don't see (how) my big brother Ahmad will risk the health of football lovers for an AFCON."

And Algerian star, Adlene Guedioura, who helped the Desert Foxes win the AFCON title in Egypt in July, has also added his voice to the debate, saying the tournament set for next year should either be postponed or even cancelled.

"I know that Africa Cup of Nations is important and it's good for the countries to organise it but this one in 2021, I think, it should be cancelled or postponed," Guedioura told the BBC World Service.

"First, they said it was in summer, then in winter, now we have the coronavirus which makes it more difficult to complete the qualification games.

"I think they should decide maybe to have it later. That would help many of the nations and many of the players also who represent Africa in the world."

The 34-year-old, who plays for Qatari club Al-Gharafa, and had a stint with English Premiership clubs Wolverhampton Wanderers, Crystal Palace and Watford, played every minute of the Desert Foxes' successful campaign at the 2019 AFCON finals.

"It's much better to do it (the AFCON finals) in the European summer anyway. I think the best Cup of Nations was the last one in the summer and it's not just because we won it," he said. "With a Cup of Nations in January it's in the middle of the season, you come back straight away to play for your club and you can get injured or you can lose your place in the team. "If you're not (Mohamed) Salah or (Riyad) Mahrez or (Sadio) Mane, if you're a player who always has to fight for his place (at his club), the manager can decide to pick other players, which isn't good.

"I remember most of the Algeria players told our manager Djamel Belmadi we'd prefer it in the summer. This coronavirus, you have to think about safety of people, and football comes very last unfortunately.

"To organise the qualifying games is going to be very difficult. I wouldn't be surprised if the tournament is postponed or cancelled, to be honest. It's something they need to discuss. To organise this Cup of Nations will be very tough."

In the event football returns, it's likely the January/February window would be used by many of Europe's major leagues to try and make up for lost time and the AFCON finals, in those months, could cause huge conflicts between clubs and countries.

This article originally appeared on The Herald

Photo: The Herald