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Geophrey Sifani Sport Reporter
MIGHTY Warriors’ coach Shadreck Mlauzi has expressed frustration at the second-rate treatment his team has been getting despite making history by becoming the first local soccer side to qualify for the Olympic Games.
The senior women’s national team overcame numerous hurdles, including threats of expulsion from the qualifiers, to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Mlauzi, who took over the Mighty Warriors’ job in September, said the women’s national team should be an important brand for Zifa following their historic achievement, but it’s sad that they are still not being recognised.
“We’re now a force to reckon with and we feel we deserve that due recognition in terms of reward. We expected a token of appreciation because our girls are national heroines. As it is, they are broke and have nothing going into Christmas, yet they put their bodies on the line for the cause of the nation. That’s really frustrating,” said Mlauzi.
“I think this is gender discrimination because this wouldn’t have happened to the national men’s team. A lot of cash was going to be channelled to them in a short space of time.”
He said if their qualification was truly historic as has been said, the girls would have been appreciated.
“Yes we’ve received recognition from CAF, but what about at home? The technical team is mainly concerned about the welfare of the players. We don’t want a dispirited team when we start our preparations for the Rio Olympics. These will come in handy in motivating the team and make them feel that they’re carrying the pride of the nation.
“We’re disappointed that we can’t start our preparations now. We had hoped that after the Zifa elections something was going to come up, no attention has been given to our road map,” he said.
He urged the new Zifa board to address bread and butter issues as a matter of urgency.
Online Reporter