Zimbabwe: Zhf Teams to Participate At Africa Cup

THE Zimbabwe Handball Federation says the postponement of the Men's Seniors Africa Nations Cup presents them with a lifeline to participate at the event expected to be held in Morocco.

The continental tournament was initially scheduled for this month, from January 13 to 23, but was moved to a later date after the African Handball Confederation (CAHB) registered two appeals over the draw that was held in December.

"On the 8th of December 2021, the African Handball Confederation organised by video conference, from its head office in Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire), the draw for the 25th Men's Seniors Africa Nations Cup, initially planned from 13th to 23rd January 2022 in Morocco.

"After the said draw, the secretariat of CAHB registered two appeals for annulment, notably from Algeria and Zambia.

"In view of the relevance of the arguments put forward, and in order to better understand the situation, the African Handball Confederation suspended the results of the draw and postponed the competition to a later date," reads part of the statement from CAHB.

Zimbabwe had missed out on the opportunity to be part of the competition as they had not entered a team by the time the draw was held.

The national federation had indicated prior to the draw their interests and said they were considering fielding a team at the event.

But it seems they are taking their time to decide.

ZHF secretary general, Edson Chirowodza, said the postponement gives them a chance to participate since they are still considering to send a team and are engaging the continental body.

"The postponement gives us a chance to take part with our Vision (2024) team as we are in the building up process for 2024. The strong part of a team is determined by the level of competition.

"For us taking part in this tournament would be to assess ourselves against the best in Africa, so that as we continue with our Vision 2024 project we will know where to improve and work on that so that by 2024 we will become a force to reckon," said Chirowodza.

The draw is now expected to take place on a new date to be announced in due course and the tournament was moved to June.

This article originally appeared on The Herald

Photo: The Herald