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Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S history-making coach Sunday “Mhofu” Chidzambwa has urged the Sport and Recreation Commission to speedily resolve their impasse with ZIFA and ensure players are not prejudiced by long periods of exclusion from international football.
Chidzambwa, the first man to guide the Warriors to the African Cup of Nations finals in 2004, is saddened that an opportunity has been lost for a new generation of the senior team to take aim at the continental show-piece.
His sentiments come as Zimbabwe along with Kenya were formally excluded from the 2023 Nations Cup qualifiers which are scheduled to start early next month.
CAF on Monday night formerly kicked out the Warriors and the Harambee Stars of Kenya and issued a statement to that effect.
“As a consequence of having failed to have their suspensions by FIFA set aside, CAF has confirmed that both Kenya and Zimbabwe will not participate in the Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 qualifiers.
“The qualifiers will kick-off on the first day of June 2022.
“CAF had included them (Zimbabwe and Kenya) in the official draw earlier in April 2022 on the condition that the suspension must be lifted two weeks before their first matchday.
“Kenya and Zimbabwe, suspended for political interference, have not yet met the criteria required by the FIFA Congress as a prerequisite for lifting their suspension.
“As a result, because of the suspension, the following will apply:
“The two associations; Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) will be considered losers and eliminated from the competition.
“Groups C and K will be composed only of three teams and the order of the matches will be maintained in accordance with the match schedule that has been communicated to the teams after the draw.
“The first and runner-up teams of those groups will qualify for the final tournament,” wrote CAF in their statement which was released late on Monday night.
The Warriors were scheduled to play their first game in Group K, which features Morocco, South Africa and Liberia, on June 9.
And Chidzambwa, who also took charge of Zimbabwe on their fourth AFCON appearance in Egypt in 2019, wants the problems that led to ZIFA’s suspension by the Sports Commission to be quickly resolved and with lasting solutions put in place.
“It is very unfortunate for football but also, on the other hand, I think ZIFA and the SRC should come together and solve the problems affecting our football.
“It’s not good for football that we are missing out on the AFCON qualifiers, we will be left behind in terms of football development.
“So they must come together, iron out their differences and do what is required. What is important here is to play football and solve all the other issues amicably,” said Chidzambwa.
Former Warriors defender Dickson Choto, who is now into junior football through his academy, said the expulsion of the Warriors in the 2023 AFCON qualifiers after the provisional inclusion by CAF is a sad development.
“As a former player, I feel this is sad for the players who had the hopes to play in the qualifiers and the 2023 AFCON finals and maybe get a chance to be scouted by other bigger clubs.
“Covid-19 affected a generation of players who had to miss out on events due to the pandemic and now they are being forced to miss out again because of the ban. I think this is disappointing to the boys and quite a setback.
“But at the same time, it is also a good opportunity for the Sports Commission and ZIFA to sit down and solve issues so that football is played.
“The junior players also need to represent the country in junior tournaments, something which is not possible at the moment,” said Choto. Sports Leaders Institute of Zimbabwe president, Russel Mhiribidi, also added his voice and said the Warriors’ expulsion from the 2023 AFCON qualifiers is a sad development.
“Just like any football-loving Zimbabwean fan, the ban is sad. I say so because the ban could have been avoided. FIFA gave us a roadmap to work on, which I believe we should have worked on regardless of whether the suspended ZIFA executive was right or wrong.
“I feel that we could have used other available football remedies or ZIFA constitutional remedies that would have included the SRC simply reinstating the ZIFA board and then if need be then the EGM would then have recalled the board members that they would have wanted to recall.
“As it is, I think we acted insubordination to FIFA statutes and regulations and the fact that FIFA had not banned us but simply suspended and up until now, I still think we are suspended and we just need to do the needful, which is to reinstate that board and let the football mechanisms take charge.
“The saddest part is the fact that when our football teams play there are a lot of expectations, and when we win the entire nation’s happiness index goes up and we are going to be deprived of that until that time when we are reinstated or FIFA admits us back,” said Mhiribidi.
The Sports Commission chairman, Gerald Mlotshwa, has reiterated that the Warriors participation in the 2023 AFCON qualifiers was not their priority at the moment as they first want to “clean-up the mess” in Zimbabwean football.
Online Reporter