CAF general secretaries seminar on cards

Football seminar.
The indaba will also discuss at length the 2013 African Cup of Nations qualifiers and the continent’s qualifying programme for the 2014 World Cup.
Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze will be among the general secretaries who will attend the seminar which starts on Tuesday.
Mashingaidze yesterday said the seminar would also help prepare member associations on ways of improving their working relationship with Fifa security officers and match commissioners.
“The general secretaries are attending the workshop in preparation for the 2013 AFCON and the 2014 World Cup as you know that Caf also recently changed the format for the Nations Cup qualifiers.
“So this workshop is also being done so that we work better with Fifa security officers and match commissioners before and during the qualifiers.
“We also want to stick to the Fifa statutes and all punishable offences like the treatment that the Warriors got in Burundi will be addressed at this seminar.
“Teams have also been complaining about visas with some delegations including our own team being forced to wait for several hours at ports of entry when there should be a smooth passage for them,’’ Mashingaidze said.
The Zifa chief executive said a number of associations had expressed reservations with the sudden decision by Caf to slot the 2013 Nations Cup first round qualifiers on a midweek date. Mashingaidze said the associations believe that Caf needed to consult widely on the matter as many teams had encountered problems with flying their players from Europe and other bases outside the continent.
“Associations are not happy with the issue of the February 29 midweek fixtures as it affected player release and Caf must issue a proper template on how this is to be dealt with because some clubs did not observe the Fifa requirement to release players five days before the game’’.
African football, Mashingaidze also said, was battling with the problem of player insurance which was hampering some national teams.
“It is important too for Caf to discuss and come up with a template on issues to do with injuries on the pitch and we have had cases of lack of insurance cover for African players when they are turning out for their national teams. In the end some players prefer to stay at their clubs where they are insured rather than risk playing for the national team’’.
Mashingaidze said the seminar would also cover a wide range of topics that include the roles of team managers, general secretaries and media officers and the way national teams handle the media.