Online Reporter
Petros Kausiyo and Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
FIFA have reportedly shifted goalposts on the release of players for the Africa Cup of Nations, derailing the Warriors plans to hold two training camps ahead of the tournament that will burst into life in Morocco on December 21.
The Warriors began their training camp in Harare on Sunday with the local contingent undergoing their assessment under new coach Marian “Mario’’ Marinica.
Marinica in consultation with ZIFA had wanted to hold a camp in Harare until December 10 before switching base to Morocco at which the bulk of the foreign-based Warriors were expected to join in.
But it emerged yesterday that FIFA, who had initially set December 8 as the date on which clubs would be compelled to start releasing players, had moved the date to December 15.
This means the Warriors would now have to extend their local camp before leaving for Morocco on December 15 where they will now link up with their foreign legion. But as they look to go and make their latest attempt at proceeding beyond the group stage for the first time, Marinica is taking every detail into consideration before risking it out for the squad after dropping six players from his provisional team, which has been training at Rufaro. The Romanian has built his revered profile around meticulous attention to detail and has decided to live with that in chopping his bloated team owing to some medical protocols.
Marinica does not know much about Zimbabwean players after only getting a chance to work with them in two international friendlies against Algeria and Qatar last month.
The Harare camp is the first time that the ex-Malawi and Liberia coach is having a closer look at the majority of the homegrown talent.
While some players have excited him from those two high-intensity friendlies, Marinica has moved to give everyone with potential, a chance to show what they can give before he trims his squad for the Nations Cup show-piece.
He initially called up a 56-member squad which he will work with before finalising on the travelling band for the tournament. But by yesterday, the Romanian had chopped off the number to 50 after six players including Dynamos captain Emmanuel Jalai and his Scottland counterpart Walter Musona were released on fitness grounds.
The duo can, however, still make their way back into the fold provided they show up with clean medical bills.
In the meantime, the coach will add other players who were not on the initial list. While there was some furore around the release of the players, which is often the case with Zimbabweans, ZIFA took time to explain how and why they decided to axe the players who also include Tymon Machope, Andrew Mbeba, Xolani Ndlovu and Junior Makunike.
In a statement, ZIFA said: “Several players were asked to bring their injury radiological investigations, and most complied. The medical team continues to assess every player to ensure fitness for national duty. GPS data also confirmed all this during training.
“Because of these injury developments, the technical team will broaden its pool, and some players who were not on the original 56-man list will be added as preparations for AFCON intensify. ZIFA remains committed to transparency and top-level player welfare.”
