BY FORTUNE MBELE ZiFa is set to determine whether the Highlanders pair of Brian Banda and Tinashe Makanda can be allowed to move on after their contracts with the club expired at the end of June. Banda and Makanda’s contracts expired on June 30 and are reported to have signed pre-contracts with champions FC Platinum. Bosso have not enjoyed the services of the duo in their last six months after football was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.Correspondence sent to the 18 clubs by the Premier Soccer League last week ruled out player movements for now. “We have received enquiries from some clubs on how the expired and/or expiring contracts are to be handled. It was our hope that the national association would come up with a clear policy. Since there have been no clear guidelines from Zifa, we have engaged the Footballers’ Union of Zimbabwe to discuss a win-win situation,” PSL chief executive Kennedy Ndebele wrote. He added: “However it is important to note that as things stand, the player transfer window closed on March 31, 2020. New player movements is not permissible outside the transfer windows announced by the association.” After Banda and Makanda’s contracts expired, Highlanders said they would stand guided by the PSL and Zifa on how to deal with the case.Zifa have also said they will be making a statement in due course on player contracts. Before all football activities were suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stalling the start of the 2020 PSL programme, Zifa had prescribed the first transfer window to close on March 31 and the second to open on July 1 and close on July 31. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fifa issued guidelines on player contracts to be flexible vis-à-vis the ravaging disease.However, the guidelines appeared not to be in sync with the PSL season which starts in March and ends in November. Part of the guidelines read: “Expiring player contracts usually end when the season ends with a termination date that coincides with the end of the season. With the current suspension of play in most countries, it is now obvious that the current season will not end when people thought it would. “Therefore, it is proposed that contracts be extended until such time that the season does actually end. This should be in line with the original intention of the parties when the contract was signed and should also preserve sporting integrity and stability. A similar principle applies to contracts due to begin when the new season starts, meaning the entry into force of such contracts is delayed until the next season actually does start.”