Mendes Fires Back: Zimpeto Stadium Banned Without Boots on Ground"

In a fiery interview on Rádio Moçambique's Domingo Desportivo, Mozambique's Secretary of State for Sports, Carlos Gilberto Mendes, slammed the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for what he described as a "knee-jerk" decision to ban the Zimpeto National Stadium. According to Mendes, CAF didn't even bother to step foot in Maputo before deciding to give the stadium the thumbs down, relying instead on shaky television images from a single match.

Mendes didn't hold back, accusing North African teams of pulling the strings behind CAF's scenes, hinting at a game of political chess rather than a fair play of sports governance.

But hold onto your hats, because Mendes is not one to sit back. He's promised that the Zimpeto Stadium will be match-ready in a mere two weeks, showing a bold defiance against CAF's ruling.

This saga casts a shadow over CAF's decision-making, questioning whether the organization plays by the book or if there's some behind-the-scenes favoritism at play. It's a reminder that in the world of African football, the pitch is not always level, and the whistle might just be blown by the winds of politics.