Dumaza Dube fired

This was revealed yesterday by the Zimbabwe Junior Soccer League boss, Zivanai Chiyangwa.
Chiyangwa said Dube was wreaking havoc in the selection processes of national teams by pointing out that some players were over-aged.

“We have fired Dumaza Dube. He is the source of our problems about age-cheating in the juniors. We are trying to combat it but Dube always raises these issues at all our selection events. He was a problem when we were selecting the Under-14s and now Under-17s.

“We cannot work with him. He is a problem,” said Chiyangwa yesterday morning.
When sought comment yesterday, Dube said he would not change his stance.

“Some people want to cheat, I do not want to cheat, my role as a development coach is to churn out stars that I would have identified. It’s sad to see at times over-aged players denying deserving boys opportunities.

“I am not only a teacher and coach but a parent too. I know one day they will deny my son who will be in the right age-group the chance to represent his club of choice or Zimbabwe,” said Dube.
He said cheating was so rampant and as such many players turned professional when they were already past their peak.

“We have to take a stand as Zifa and coaches in order to eradicate this disease. I am happy the Interpol and Cosafa workshop touched on that in Johannesburg, South Africa, last month. If there are queries there are simple tests that can be done at no expense at all,” said the former Bosso juniors coach.

Zifa have said age-cheating will not be tolerated.

Chiyangwa’s outburst came after he had asked this writer to come for drinks tomorrow in Harare but when the journalist said the drinks would in no way change Chronicle’s stance on age-cheating, Chiyangwa burst out.

“It’s Dumaza causing us problems. Benedict Moyo told me that. I am taping this conversation, I want to sue you, can you prove that the players are over-aged?” said Chiyangwa.
Moyo is the Zifa board member responsible for development.

Dube is a qualified development coach who is a graduate teacher and has identified players like Joel Ngodzo, Zephaniah Ngodzo, Ntokozo Tshuma and Moodley Njeleza at primary school over the years and coached them at Cement Primary School.

An accomplice in age-cheating as a player during his youth, Dube is now a strong campaigner against the practice and has done a good job to rid primary schools in Bulawayo of the evil.

He was appointed to the national Under-15 team by Henrietta Rushwaya after coming to the rescue of Zifa at the 11th hour after more than 25 players walked out of camp ahead of a continental tournament final in 2009. This was after the national association had said they would bring MRI scanners to camp. Chiyangwa was part of the junior league top brass at that time.

Last month this paper revealed that Brandon Mpala who was fired from the national Under-17 soccer team after he was said to be above the age limit was in fact of the right age. He was one of four players kicked out of camp in a suspected MRI Scan scam where results could have been swapped.

Investigations at the hospital where he was born, schools he attended, Bulawayo Junior Soccer League and a second MRI Scan revealed that he was indeed born on 26 March 1996, making him eligible.

Investigations also proved that the players were not told of their results soon after the tests as alleged by Moyo but the four boys were told while in the bus that they had been disqualified.
While Moyo had said they would love an independent testing exercise, it has been almost a month with no word and Mpala is still out of the team.

Moyo yesterday revealed that he was investigating claims that some of the players could be over the age limit. He said Zifa would continue to fight such acts and promised the nation that his board was committed to doing away with cheats at whatever level. “We just have no room for that. I am already investigating my own way after reservations were expressed about the eligibility of some players,” said Moyo.

Waison Mpala, the father of Brandon, yesterday said he was yet to hear from Zifa about the fate of his son. The Young Warriors play Congo-Brazzaville in an African qualifier this weekend.

“My son has proved his age, what I want is Zifa to clear him through a transparent exercise to involve all the players who were in camp at the time. I cannot rule out that my son’s papers could have been swapped. He has to be cleared, it is not about the national team now, it is a moral position we are taking as a family, it is his right too to play for his country. We are not saying they should call him up against their will but what we are fighting for is for them to make public their findings,” said Waison yesterday.

Meanwhile, Chiyangwa said school-going Under-17s who are writing their final O Level examinations were attending classes at Churchill High School.

“We made arrangements with Churchill High School for our players to attend lessons in the mornings before training sessions and in the evening after training sessions and we have four teachers who are taking the boys in all their subjects.

“From what I have observed there are no problems at the camp in terms of the players being deprived of the academic aspect. There have been no complaints of any sort and we are happy,” he said.