THE Chawinga sisters – Temwa and Tabhita – were at the heart of the Mighty Warriors humiliation in an embarrassing 0-9 aggregate loss in their 2028 Olympics qualifier.
Temwa, who plays for Kansas City Current in the United States, was the destroyer-in-chief with four goals, in the two legs, including a hat-trick at the National Sports Stadium.
She has been shortlisted for the 2026 Ballon d’Or Feminine award. Tabhita, the older of the two sisters, scored twice in the two legs.
The quality of the two sisters was the main difference between the two nations in what was a baptism of fire for Mighty Warriors’ new boss Stella Gotal.
Ten years ago, the Mighty Warriors were playing at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
And, against their Group F opponents – Germany, Canada and Australia – they never suffered such humiliation.
Crucially, they scored in all their group matches.
The Mighty Warriors lost 1-6 to Germany, and by an identical scoreline to Australia, and lost 1-3 to Canada. Temwa has been breaking records and became the first NWSL player to score 20 goals in a season in her debut campaign last year.
Tabitha plays for French club Lyon – one of the most successful European women’s teams.
After their Mighty Warriors demolition job, the Chawinga sisters have dominated the post-match conversations among local fans.
On social media, there have been outrageous calls by some Zimbabwean football fans that the Chawinga sisters should be barred from playing women’s football.
The calls are outrageous because the two sisters are eligible to feature for their team because they are women, and they should not be shamed because of their physical appearance or their extraordinary football talent. However, the reality is that such suspicion, even as outrageous and unfortunate as it is, has been trailing the two sisters for some time now.
Five years ago, Tabitha revealed that while playing for a girls’ school team, at the age of 13, she was forced to undress in front of the opposition to prove that, indeed, she was a girl.
Her opponents did not believe she was female because of her physical appearance and how well she played.
“I had never been so devastated and I cried at the embarrassment that I had been exposed to.
“I wanted to walk out right away but somehow my teammates consoled me and I decided to finish the game,” she said.
The incident made her quit the sport for a year.
It happened a year later when she played for the Lilongwe women’s football team DD Sunshine.
During a women’s Presidential Cup match, she was told to undress on the pitch.
“We were participating in a Presidential Cup match and for our first game we travelled to Blantyre to play Blantyre Zero.
“It was a very difficult game and while it was being played, I was undressed right in the ground.
“I lost it right at that moment and we ended up losing the game as well.
“When I was being stripped, I was young and I didn’t know my rights. But if we talk about rights, they should be implemented.
“I am encouraging those women who have a passion for football that everything is possible. And being born different is not the end of the world.”
Maggie Kathewera Banda, founder and executive director of the Women’s Legal Resources Centre, said what Chawinga went through was an act of gender-based violence.
“This is a violation of someone’s dignity,” she said. – Sports Reporter/The Guardian
