Zimbabwe’s Premier Soccer League is set to join European leagues to start the upcoming season in August after the country’s football governing body (ZIFA) met to make the announcement.
The 2020 season was set to kick-off in April but was postponed due to the coronavirus. ZIFA have decided to align its domestic football league season with the European calendar.
The ZIFA statement read: “In its meeting on the 3 May 2020, the ZIFA Emergency Committee also noted that other football associations were planning to resume football operations around August/September 2020 and has tentatively set this date as to when our leagues will commence should our government announce the complete end of the lockdown any day before the envisaged dates,”
“The resumption of football activities will also be done in consultation with CAF and FIFA. For ZIFA, should the season begin in September that will see us also aligning our football calendar with the rest of the world.”
The delay in the leagues kick off will affect local clubs struggling financially under the COVID-19 lockdown in the country. But ZIFA revealed plans to cater for some of the financial obligations of affiliates and key workers with FIFA’s US$500,000 operational fund given to the organization recently to help survive the economic impact of the Coronavirus.