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ZIFA vice-president, Omega Sibanda, played a very key role in resolving the impasse between the association and Warriors coach Callisto Pasuwa yesterday, which had paralysed the national team’s preparations for the 2017 Nations Cup campaign.
Sibanda held discussions with Pasuwa’s manager, Gibson Mahachi, and managed to strike a deal for the coach to return to work, despite all the issues related to the non-payment of his salary, by providing assurance that the gaffer would be paid.
The ZIFA vice-president also engaged Sport, Arts and Culture Minister, Andrew Langa, over the issue and, after a day of negotiations, an agreement was struck with Pasuwa to return to work and prepare the Warriors ahead of their tie against Malawi on Saturday.
Last night, Sibanda apologised to the nation for the mess that marred the Warriors’ preparations for the opening game.
“We apologise to the nation for what has happened because, as ZIFA, we knew that this fixture was on the way and AFCON should always be a priority all the time,” said Sibanda.
“We came short as the football leadership and all that we can do is to say sorry to those who believe that we need to do better and these include the players themselves, the coaches , the fans , the Government and the sponsors.
“Today I managed to talk to Mahachi and I gave him the assurance that Pasuwa will be paid his dues and I also talked to the Minister and he was, obviously, very angry that this has happened and that a national assignment was being hampered because we had not provided the leadership expected from us.
“But what I can tell the nation is that we managed to resolve many of the sticking issues and the most important thing is that the national team is going to Malawi and they will fulfill that big match and everyone now needs to support the team because we have to win the game.
“As ZIFA, I think this is another case that exposes us for not being united and transparent because a lot of information is not being fed to all the Board Members and we are only brought into the picture when there is a real crisis.
“We should use this crisis as a lesson to show us that we cannot privatise ZIFA, this is a public organisation that is supposed to serve the interests of the football in this country, and if we were united and we did things in a transparent way, we would not have got to this crisis.
“All the ZIFA stakeholders need to be respected and told of what is happening because this organisation belongs to the nation and not to us or just a few people and, as has been seen in this crisis, it is the nation that has come to provide a solution to the issues that were affecting our Warriors. “If we work as a team at ZIFA, and this is something that I have been preaching since I came into office, we can achieve a lot and we can get the support of the entire nation, including the sponsors, but the problem that we have is that we are divided and there is no transparency in the way we are conducting our affairs.”
Sibanda said the onus was on the ZIFA Secretariat to change the way it has been handling the Association business if a crisis, like the one that the Warriors faced this week, would be avoided.
“The ZIFA Secretariat should know that everyone who is on the ZIFA Board is a key and needs to be told what is happening so that we pull in one direction and we confront the challenges that we face as a united group,” said Sibanda.
“Unfortunately, that is not the case right now because a lot of people on the ZIFA Board don’t know what is happening and only get to know that things are not fine when it has turned into a crisis.
“I have always said that if we work together as a team, we will get support from the country but there has been resistance to my appeal that we need to focus on issues that help improve our football and not these fights.
“I want to thank Pasuwa and his management team, the way they conducted themselves when we were doing the negotiations was excellent and they deserve special mention because, at the end, they put their country first even though they still have some issues with us.
“The Minister, too, played a very big part and we need to thank him and the Ministry of Sport has secured accommodation for the boys and a reputable company will pay their allowances.”
Sibanda said ZIFA needed to move away from the ad-hoc way of doing business which has become acceptable at the Association.
“It worries me when a woman who loves her football and country so much like Cecilia Gambe has to go to all these lengths, every time the Mighty Warriors are in camp, just to get assistance for the team, it’s not fair on her,” said Sibanda.
“She has distinguished herself and I also want to take this opportunity to thank Prophet Walter Magaya for the way that he has helped us, again and again, even when we go to see him without notice, he has shown that he really loves his country and football and if we could get many people like him, we will avoid the problems that we saw affecting the Warriors.”
Online Reporter