The Black Stars will now have the luxury to have a full house for the return leg of the Fifa World Cup next week in Harare following a decision by the United Kingdom’s top hierarchy
Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac has been handed a major boost to defeat Zimbabwe both home and away in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers following a decision by the United Kingdom’s top hierarchy.
The UK government in February issued a new travel measures to visitors from 17 African nations including Zimbabwe and South Africa who are intending to travel to the country that they will be quarantined for 10 days in one of the government-approved hotels and will have to pay for themselves during their stay. Travelers will also foot a bill not less than $100 per night.
This as a result, led to several Ghanaian players including Jordan Ayew, Baba Rahman, Daniel Amartey and Jeffrey Schlupp ruled out of the game against South Africa in Johannesburg last month since their clubs didn’t want them to be quarantined after the international break. Their absence hugely affected Ghana the Black Stars narrowly lost to the Bafana Bafana.
Similar situation was likely to happen as Zimbabwe were preparing to host Ghana on October 12 in Harare after they play the first leg of the qualifiers in Cape Coast this weekend.
However, the UK government has confirmed that Zimbabwe will be out of the red list on Monday, October 11 just a day before the game with the Black Stars.
This means that if Ghana arrives in Harare on Monday, Key players like Daniel Amartey, Abdul Baba Rahman, Andy Yiadom and Jordan Ayew and Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey are expected not to miss the game and will not be quarantined upon arrival in UK
Also, other players like Daniel Kofi Kyereh and Kamaldeen Sulemana who plays in Germany and with Stade Rennes in France respectively are also safe to be part of the game.
Zimbabwe team manager Wellington Mpandare confirmed that their four UK-based players will play both home and away games with Ghana and will not have any issues with COVID-19 protocols. They include Nakamba, Zemura, Brendan Galloway, and Tendayi Darikwa.
“Zimbabwe will move off the red list at 4 am Monday 11 October. If you arrive in England before then, you need to follow the red list rules,” he said.
Ghana will host Zimbabwe at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium on Saturday, October 9, 2021 and the kick off has been scheduled at 16h00 GMT.
Below are the 17 Africa countries named in the red zone by UK government and travelers would need to be quarantined for ten days:
• Angola
• Botswana
• Burundi
• Cape Verde
• DRC
• Eswatini
• Lesotho
• Malawi
• Mauritius
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Rwanda
• Seychelles
• South Africa
• Tanzania
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe
Ghana currently sit in second place in the Group G table with three points, one point behind South Africa following a win against Ethiopia and a defeat to Bafana Bafana.