ZIFA’S spirited efforts to stage the Champions League tie between FC Platinum and Sudanese giants El-Merreikh at Mandava this coming weekend appear to be slowly turning into a losing battle. For the first time, since this impasse started last week, the national football governing body revealed that they were now looking at the possibility of staging the game at Rufaro.

With Caf maintaining a hardline stance, Zifa have been banking on El-Merreikh striking a deal with FC Platinum that could have resulted in the match being played at Mandava.

But the arrival of an El-Merreikh advance delegation in Harare yesterday, and the discussions they held with Zifa officials in Harare, showed that the Sudanese club were playing the game according to the Caf orders.

The El-Merreikh officials came here armed with the latest correspondence from Caf indicating that the match should not be played to Mandava.

They said they could only discuss the possibility of having the match at Mandava, with their club officials in Sudan, if they were advised of the names of the airports in Masvingo and Zvishavane.

That certainly threw spanners into the works as it brought a new dimension that the Sudanese giants expected to be flown from Masvingo to Zvishavane rather than travelling between the two towns by road.

Yesterday, Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze acknowledged receipt of an ultimatum from Caf to find an alternative home venue for FC Platinum.

Mashingaidze immediately filed another appeal to Caf but, for the first time, revealed they were now looking at the possibility of the match being played in Harare.

“We have noted the issue of the distance of 95km which you raised in respect of the distance between Masvingo and Zvishavane,” Mashingaidze said in his latest letter.

“The Association has made all the relevant preparations in terms of El-Merreikh’s arrival, connection to Masvingo and their training programme.

“The Association and FC Platinum secured aircraft for use by the club El-Merriekh and match officials from Masvingo to Zvishavane and back and to that end both match officials and the club will have easy access to the practice and match venue.

“We have already spent money on the hire of the aircraft and accommodation for the club and match officials.

“We therefore await your response to our final appeal to have the match in question played at Mandava Stadium, which meets the Caf and Fifa standards.”

Zifa could be heading another for collision with the Sudan Football Association after Al Amal indicated that they will be arriving in Harare on Thursday for their Caf Confederations Cup first round tie against Hwange.

Hwange will host the game at their Colliery venue and Zifa had advised the Sudanese side to travel from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls.

Victoria Falls is 90km from Hwange and could save the local club from organising a domestic flight to carry the visitors.

On March 6, Mashingaidze wrote to the SFA, advising both Al Amal and El-Merreikh of the possible travel plans.

“Kindly furnish us with the travelling delegation lists and their passport numbers for Al Amal and ElMerreikh (Champions League) teams to enable us to process their visas as a matter of urgency.

“Please be advised that the final destination for Al Amal is Victoria Falls and should make arrangements for a direct flight to Victoria Falls Airport or via Johannesburg, South Africa,” wrote Mashingaidze.

However, the SFA yesterday wrote to Zifa and advised them that Al Amal Atbara will be coming to via Harare on Thursday and would need Zifa to make arrangements for the domestic flight.

Magdi Shams Eldin, the secretary general of the SFA said Al Amal will be arriving shortly after midday.

“With reference to the above mentioned subject (Ref: Hwange v Al Amal Atbara match), we would like to inform you that Al Amal Atbara club delegation will arrive in Harare on 22nd May 2012 at 12.25 by Ethiopian Airways flight no 873.

“It will be highly appreciated to contact Zimbabwe FA to arrange domestic flight from the capital to the concerning city in which the match will be played if the distance exceeds 200km according to the tournament regulations and we enclose herewith the destination proposal of Zimbabwe FA.

“This is for your kind attention,” wrote Eldin yesterday. Hwange have already host Jamhuri FC of Zanzibar who flew into Harare but undertook the nearly 1000km trip to Victoria Falls by road.

Chipangano spokesman, Burzil Dube, said they were working with Zifa to find an amicable solution to the potential standoff.

“We saw the correspondence from Sudan and we are aware of the Caf requirements that visiting teams need to be flown if the distance is exceeding 200km.

“At the moment we are looking at the options and we are engaging Zifa on this.

“But I can confirm that the game will be played in Hwange,” said Dube.

Meanwhile, Dynamos are set to leave the country on Thursday as they plunge into their 2012 African Champions League first round, first leg tie against Mozambique side Liga Maculmana.

Dynamos were given a bye in the preliminary round while their opponents had to overcome Zanzibari side Mafunzo.

Last year, Dynamos failed to go beyond the first round after crashing against Algerian side MC Alger in Algiers.

DeMbare took a seemingly healthy 41 advantage at Rufaro but they lost the reverse fixture 30 amid reports of controversial officiating.

Unlike in the previous campaigns where the Harare giants had to struggle for funds to fund their trips, their principal sponsors BancABC are bankrolling this campaign. Callisto Pasuwa’s charges conducted a light training session at Raylton Sports Club yesterday with a full squad. Dynamos secretary, Ray Kazembe, yesterday said they were set to leave on Thursday.

“We are expecting to leave on the 22nd of March and then return on the 25th.

“According to the plans, we should be leaving via South Africa. I have not yet seen the final itinerary but the bookings have already been done,” said Kazembe.

The tie is set for Saturday at the Estadio Da Liga Muculmana, which is a 5000seater facility.