Football committee avoid Saintfiet gaffe on Brito

THE Zimbabwe Football Association Normalisation Committee is working on getting interim national team coach Baltemar Brito the necessary paperwork to enable him to coach both Highlanders FC and the Warriors.

Brito was a fortnight ago appointed the Zimbabwe senior national team, affectionately known as the Warriors, head coach.

However the terms of his contract and permit are that he can only coach the club.

Highlanders FC did not get in the way of the gaffer who had two months prior indicated his willingness to serve Zimbabwe.

The national association travelled with Brito and his assistant and translator Antonio Torres to Botswana to celebrate that country’s Independence last Saturday.

Previously Zimbabwe ran into problems with the appointment of Tom Saintfiet, a Belgian national, who was here for two months in 2010. His appointment drew a lot of debate and he was forced to flee the country under the cover of darkness via Plumtree Border Post as sections of the volatile football environment caused his deportation.

Already social media in Zimbabwe has been abuzz how the Portuguese broke his work permit by accepting to work on an ad hoc basis for the nation.

However, yesterday afternoon the Normalisation Committee chairman Lincoln Mutasa, allayed fears that Brito could run into problems with immigration. He said they were seized with sorting out his permit so that he can coach Highlanders and at the same time assist the national team when duty calls.

“We are attending to the issue of permits,” is all what the former Dynamos player and chairman could say.

In a situation that showed how troubled the Zimbabwe game was, at a time when the Sport and Recreation Commission ordered investigations on Asiagate, a scandal that attacked the core of football business, fair play and integrity, Madinda Ndlovu and Norman Mapeza were also appointed national team coaches that year, 2010.

Saintfiet’s deportation and subsequent contract breach by Zifa cost the national association US$185 000.
Mutasa and the Normalisation Committee would love to avoid such a scenario.