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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
THE fragmented ZIFA board meets in Harare today under pressure to silence an army of doubting Thomases who believe they have sold the nation another dummy by claiming they are on the verge of sealing a deal to woo coach Callisto Pasuwa back into the Warriors’ fold.
With the 2017 Nations Cup qualifier against Guinea, set for September 2 now looming on the horizon, the association’s leadership is under severe pressure to resolve the issue of the senior national team coach in the wake of the disruption caused by Pasuwa’s decision to quit his job.
Pasuwa walked away in protest after enduring a horror 10-month period during which he served both the Warriors and Young Warriors without being paid a cent by an association that is also drowning under a mountain of debt.
His manager Gibson Mahachi sent a short resignation note to ZIFA chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze shortly after the coach returned home from national duty in South Africa where he led the Young Warriors in a CAF Under-23 Championship qualifier.
Pasuwa and his men were soundly beaten 0-3 in Pietermaritzburg, the culmination of a chaotic week in which the coach only joined the team on the eve of their departure to South Africa, having stayed away from their preparations because of his row with his employers.
The Young Warriors also boycotted training, in Pasuwa’s absence, after they were not served their lunch at the lodge they were staying because ZIFA had not paid as promised.
The big defeat was Pasuwa’s first, in a competitive match, since he took charge of both the Young Warriors and the senior national team with his finest hour coming when he guided the Warriors to a stunning 2-1 win in a 2017 Nations Cup qualifier against Malawi in Blantyre in June.
Given the turbulence in their camp back then, with the players refusing to board their flight to Blantyre because of a pay dispute with ZIFA, and the fact that they endured a punishing road trip to Malawi, arriving just hours before the game, the Warriors’ triumph was cheered around the globe as a grand achievement.
But with Pasuwa walking out of his job two weeks ago, and reports that some of the players, who triumphed in that game in Malawi, are unhappy that they were not given their dues as promised by the Association, that significant victory could count for nothing should the team fail to win their next match against bogey side Guinea.
The West Africans beat Zimbabwe home and away in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers and, although they crashed to a shock defeat at the hands of Swaziland in the opening game of their 2017 Nations Cup campaign in Morocco, their preferred home as their nation battles the Ebola crisis, they have the alibi that they did not have seven of their regular players who stayed in Europe.
It could be a different story, and a stronger Guinea, which could make the trip to Harare for the second game, now that their campaign is in tatters, and rests on what happens in this match.
ZIFA announced on Wednesday that they were trying to lure Pasuwa back into the fold, to remain as the Warriors’ coach, even going to the extent of revealing that an unnamed company had indicated that it was ready to pay the gaffer.
But ZIFA have made promises before in this saga, which they have failed to fulfil, including an undertaking that they would pay Pasuwa his dues by the end of June only for the date to pass without anything coming from the Association.
Mahachi yesterday said their situation had not changed and, as of now, Pasuwa was no longer an employee of the Association and considering other options that could come his way.
“The situation hasn’t changed from the stage when we sent them that resignation note and I think you know very well that we have been here before, where certain promises were made to the coach by his employers, but nothing ended up being delivered,” said Mahachi.
“When I sent the resignation note, I had a chat with Mashingaidze (Jonathan, ZIFA chief executive), and he said that they were working on something to try and address the situation so that the coach continues working for the Association.
“He was also concerned that we should not be addressing these issues in the media because he felt that the media was putting a lot of pressure on ZIFA.
“I also talked to Cuthbert Dube (ZIFA president), just before the trip to South Africa, and he was pleading with us for the coach to go with the team and saying that something would be done to address the coach’s concerns when we are back.
“He said that he had been in touch with the Minister of Sport (Andrew Langa) and there was a commitment that the Ministry would do something to address the coach’s issue and, even if that didn’t materialise, he (Dube) would come on board.
“But I told him that we have travelled that road before and nothing happened, it was the same story before we went to Malawi, there were a lot of promises made that when the coach comes back his issue would be addressed but nothing happened and it was difficult, against that background, for us to trust what was being said.
“Pasuwa went to South Africa to serve his nation because he felt it wasn’t right for him to then just leave the boys, at the last minute, given where they had come from, but we made it clear that it would be his last assignment and from there, he would leave his job.
“This is a man who has done wonders, under very difficult circumstances, and the results are there to show that he has been very successful and to treat him, the way he has been treated, without even a month when his salary is paid, has been very unfair.
“Yes, other coaches have had issues, in terms of being paid by ZIFA, but — at least — they were paid something, maybe once or twice, but Pasuwa hasn’t been paid even once and when you look at his results, and the environment he worked under, you begin to appreciate the work that he did.”
ZIFA know that the Warriors’ squad should be named by Monday next week, to enable the Association to have the two-week window to send requests to clubs to release the players who would have been called for national duty, and that has added to the pressure for the resolution of the Pasuwa saga.
The Association leadership has not revealed what they used the $1 030 000 they received from FIFA, including $300 000 meant for “Men’s Competition”, this year alone, and why part of that money was not even used to pay a month’s salary of the national coach.
Harare was buzzing yesterday with reports that Pasuwa could be on his way to CAPS United whose coach, Mark Mathe, has been given a two-match ultimatum by his employers, starting with the tricky game against Flame Lilly, to win both games or face the sack.
But The Herald can reveal that, for the moment, Mathe’s job is safe — for now — and all that he needs to do is to deliver and he will get the backing of his employers.
Online Reporter