By MICHAEL MIYOBA
THE Premier Futsal League (PFL) says it will collaborate with all stakeholders to ensure that the National Futsal team qualifies for the 2024 TotalEnergies CAF Futsal Africa Cup of Nations.
Zambia will meet Mozambique in the 2024 TotalEnergies CAF Futsal Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers which have attracted 10 nations that will battle it out for this year’s finals.
PFL Chairman Tarak Mehta said the PFL was determined to ensure that Zambia qualifies for the Futsal AFCON which will act as qualifiers for the Futsal World Cup.
Mehta confirmed that the futsal squad will regroup on Thursday January 4th to begin preparations for the AFCON qualifiers.
“We will do our part to ensure that the team prepares adequately for the Mozambique game. Our task is to provide the logistical support but that cant be done without us collaborating with other stakeholders such as the Football Association of Zambia who are key stakeholders in this case,” Mehta said.
“This week the team is set to regroup under the guidance of head coach Andrea Cristoforetti in Lusaka to intensify preparations for the Mozambique game,” Mehta said.
Asked about the threats Mozambique poses Mehta said; “Mozambique are definitely not pushovers. They have a lot of experience but we have to be positive going into the qualifiers. It will not be easy but the target for us is to ensure that we qualify for the AFCON.”
Zambia will be away to Mozambique for the first leg of the futsal AFCON qualifiers which will be played between February 02 – 04 while the return legs will be between February 9 – 11.
The winners of the two-legged fixture will join Current champions, Morocco, Egypt and Angola who earned automatic qualification for the 2024 futsal AFCON as the best ranked teams in Africa.
After Mozambique relinquished the role to host the 2024 Futsal AFCON, CAF is yet to identify new hosts.
The continental futsal governing body will soon confirm the official hosts and dates of the competition which will feature eight teams.
