Coronavirus arena: Zimbabwe suspends cricket nationwide

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The coronavirus epidemic continues to disrupt life across the world. The disruption is much lesser in African countries that have recorded cases as compared to for example Italy where the entire country is almost in a lockdown.

The impact on gatherings is an area that most African governments have moved to control. From the playing of football matches behind closed doors, the banning of scheduled sports events and even in the case of Kenya banning athletes from leaving the country.

Our main coronavirus hub is seized with major developments around the epidemic. This piece will focus on the impact on sports given a raft of incidents that have been undertaken.

Zimbabwe suspends cricket

SUSPENDED: Following the measures announced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the wake of the COVID-19 or coronavirus pandemic that has been declared a national disaster, @ZimCricketv has with immediate effect suspended all forms of cricket in the country #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/0R5z5gI3lZ
— Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) March 18, 2020

Cameroon suspends CHAN

The Championship of African Nations, CHAN, a CAF organized competition has been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament was meant to take place in Cameroon in April 2020.

The local organizing committee after a meeting on Tuesday (March 17) announced the decision to suspend the competition which was slated for between April 4 – 25.

Cameroon currently has 10 confirmed cases of the coronavirus even though government has yet to impose restrictions on sporting events as at today.

CHAN is a version of the African Cup of Nations but is reserved for players that ply their trade on the continent. The current champions are Morocco who beat Nigeria in the final of the last tournament in 2018.

Namibia’s football body had confirmed that they were withdrawing their participation from the competition. CAF last week suspended all 2021 Cup of Nations qualifiers over the pandemic. FIFA had also advised last week that all international matches be halted.