Hopes have been rekindled in the Warriors camp for the release of star midfielder Marvellous Nakamba following Aston Villa’s release of the Argentine duo of Emi Martínez and Emi Buendía.
Last week Premier league clubs united and refused to release players for international duty in countries on the UK’s Covid-19 red list.
Zimbabwe and Argentina are among countries still on the red list in the UK. Aston Villa announced on their Twitter handle the release of the players.
Zimbabwe has just been removed from the Republic of Ireland’s Covid-19 red list, providing a glimmer of hope that more countries including the UK will do likewise.
Zimbabwe has been a torch bearer in the fight against the pandemic, earning rare praises from such countries as Australia. In Africa Zimbabwe ranks high at number three in terms of vaccine acquisition and rollount.
“Aston Villa can confirm Emi Martínez and Emi Buendía have travelled to join up with the Argentina squad with the permission of the club by FIFA’s international match call-up rules,” read the tweet.
This is good news for ZIFA as they negotiate for the release of Midfielder Marvellous Nakamba.
Last week ZIFA assured the nation that they are leaving no stone unturned in pursuing the release of the players.
“We are engaging all clubs that have intimated that they are going to withhold players, hoping they will fulfil their obligations to release players as stated in the regulations on the status and transfer of players. We are hopeful that the team that we will eventually come up with will still represent the nation with pride and compete to the best of their abilities as true Warriors,” read a statement from ZIFA.
Zimbabwe will play against South Africa in Harare on Friday before travelling to Ethiopia four days later for the World Cup qualifying matches.
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