daniel chigunwe
Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
THE Warriors assemble today ahead of a trip to Botswana for an international friendly at the weekend as the Zifa Normalisation Committee and Premier Soccer League head for a showdown over Chibuku Super Cup matches.
Interim coach Baltemar Brito last week called up a 21-member squad that has three players each from Dynamos, Highlanders and Chicken Inn who all have quarter-final assignments in the knock-out tournament at the weekend.
A team with three players on national duty can seek postponement of their fixtures and already Dynamos and Highlanders have expressed unwillingness to fulfil the weekend Chibuku Super Cup quarter-finals unless they get at least one of their players back from the Warriors.
Dynamos travel to Mandava to face FC Platinum on Saturday while Highlanders face CAPS United the following day for a place in the semi-finals.
The Chibuku Super Cup fixtures have been arranged in a way that gives the sponsor the best-possible mileage usually associated with month-end and matches pitting Dynamos and Highlanders guarantee the best opportunities.
As such, postponing them compromises the relationship between PSL and their sponsor.
The Warriors match, to be played in Gaborone this Saturday, is part of the neighbouring country’s Independence Day celebrations but falls outside the Fifa calendar which means clubs are not obliged to release players.
Zimpapers Sport yesterday gathered that the giants were engaging the PSL to move the game to mid-next week.
Apart from coach Brito, Highlanders have Peter Muduhwa, Andrew Mbeba and Brighton Manhire while Dynamos have their captain Frank Makarati, midfielders Tanaka Shandirwa and Donald Mudadi in the squad. Their coach Genesis Mangombe is also part of the national team set up as assistant to Brito.
DeMbare vice-chairman Vincent Chawonza confirmed yesterday they had written to both PSL and the ZIFA Normalisation Committee to register their concerns.
“We have sent correspondence to ZIFA and the PSL seeking postponement of our Chibuku Super Cup game against FC Platinum, as per the norm, because we have three players in the national team, plus the coach.
“As Dynamos, we have no right to turn down national call ups for our three players and head coach. To go ahead with the match could leave us at a disadvantage.
“We are proposing even if we get a mid-week fixture in the next coming week, we don’t have a problem with that. So we wait for the response from the authorities,” said Chawonza.
PSL spokesperson Kudzai Bare yesterday acknowledged receiving the request for Dynamos but were yet to respond.
It emerged that two weeks prior to the appointment of the Warriors coach, the ZIFA Normalisation Committee met with the PSL leadership and also discussed the friendly with Botswana.
It was generally agreed that selectors would pick not more than two players per club for the assignment.
While both Normalisation Committee Lincoln Mutasa and committee member Rosemary Mugadza did not respond to the questions from the Zimpapers Sport on their agreement with the PSL, the league’s chief executive officer, Kenny Ndebele, confirmed they had discussed at length the need for ZIFA to consider the top-flight body’s obligations when arranging the national teams’ fixtures outside of the FIFA calendar for internationals.
Ndebele said they agreed with ZIFA on the modalities of how the Warriors’ squad to face the Zebras would be picked.
“When we met with the Normalisation Committee, we discussed the issue of fixtures and that we cannot afford to disrupt the PSL games for matches that are outside the FIFA calendar,” said Ndebele.
“As a result, we agreed that for the friendly match in Botswana, the Normalisation Committee would tell their coaches to pick not more than two players per club, if they really needed to, as we have more than 500 players in the PSL capable of playing in such a commemorative assignment.”
After the agreement, the PSL went on to release their Chibuku Super Cup quarter-final fixtures scheduled for this coming weekend.
“We agreed with the Normalisation Committee in our meeting with them that no matches would be postponed because of the Warriors’ match in Botswana .
“As such, we are not going to postpone any games as we intend to move to mid-week league fixtures after the Chibuku quarter-finals.
“We are actually surprised that, against the spirit of that meeting, the coaches have gone ahead and picked three players each from clubs like Highlanders and Dynamos, which have Chibuku Super Cup games on the same weekend as the Botswana game.
“It seems someone did not relay the message about limiting the selection to the coaches,’’ Ndebele.
The Warriors technical team could be forced to make adjustments to their squad by dropping one player from Dynamos and Highlanders.
Warriors Squad:
Goalkeepers: Donovan Bernard (Chicken Inn), Nelson Chadya (Ngezi Platinum Stars)
Defenders: Andrew Mbeba, Peter Muduhwa (Highlanders), Godknows Murwira (CAPS United), Frank Makarati (Dynamos), Farai Banda (Manica Diamonds), Qadr Amini (Ngezi Platinum Stars), Xolani Ndlovu (Chicken Inn)
Midfielders: Brighton Manhire (Highlanders), Shepard Mhlanga (Chicken Inn), Brian Banda (FC Platinum), Tanaka Shandirwa (Dynamos), Mthokozisi Msebe (Bulawayo Chiefs), Donald Mudadi (Dynamos), Davison Marowa (Herentals), Walter Musona (FC Platinum) Tinotenda Benza (Herentals)
Forwards: William Manondo (CAPS United), Fortune Binzi (Manica Diamonds), Obriel Chirinda (Bulawayo Chiefs)
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