adminPetros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
ZIFA and the Warriors are heading for a collision that could derail the start of the senior team’s camp for their African Nations Championships amid revelations that there are some disagreements over bonuses, camping facilities and allowances between the broke associtiation and their flagship team.
The Warriors had initially been pencilled in to start training on Monday, but that camp was shelved until tomorrow with coach Callisto Pasuwa earlier this week voicing his concern about the slow pace of preparations.
ZIFA chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze was due to meet with Pasuwa yesterday to try and fine tune the programme before the players troop into camp tomorrow amid revelations that the association wanted the Warriors to go to the sub-standard ZIFA Village while the technical crew prefer the ambience of their usual camping home – Daisy Lodge in Greendale.
It, however, emerged from sources close to the goings-on at ZIFA that there were a number of hiccups that could hinder the smooth start of the training camp in which the Warriors need to make the most out of the remaining month before they depart for the CHAN tournament in Rwanda.
The sources indicated that “the hiccups are largely because there is no money in the ZIFA coffers yet as the new leadership is still trying to raise funding”.
“There are a number of disagreements at the moment between the squad and ZIFA which must be ironed out. There was hope that this year’s camp would be an improvement on what happened during Ian Gorowa’s time for the 2014 tournament when the coach ended up having to buy food for the players and there were fights over allowances and bonuses.
“But it seems there is already a problem in that the qualifying bonus has not been paid and might not be paid after all.
“There is also a plan to cut down on the players’ daily allowances on what they will get while they are in camp in Harare and even when they will be in Rwanda compared to the last tournament and all this could affect morale if the housekeeping issues are not sorted out well before he CHAN competition starts,’’ the sources said.
The fourth edition of the CHAN tournament – a competition that is reserved only for those players plying their trade in their national leagues – is expected to run in Rwanda from January 16 to February 7.
The Warriors, who are in Group D together with perennial rivals Zambia, West Africans Mali and East African football kings Uganda, will be based in the border town of Gisenyi.
But before they can focus on their Group assignments, which will start on January 19, the Warriors would have to get their act together and make up for time they have already lost.
However, the signal coming from the senior side was not a bright one that would resemble a team eager to better the fourth-place finish they achieved at the third CHAN tournament in Cape Town last year.
Neither Pasuwa nor Mashingaidze could be reached for comment last night on the contents of their meeting, but it has also emerged that ZIFA are not fully utilising team manager Shariff Mussa despite the seasoned administrator having gone to Rwanda for the CHAN draw during which he also joined representatives of participating teams and the Confederation of African Football’s inspection team to assess the venues of the tournament.
There are genuine fears, however, that Mussa, who has also often used personal resources to bail out ZIFA, might be frustrated out of the system before the CHAN competition where Zimbabwe will begin their campaign with a clash against old enemies Zambia, bursts into life.
“Shariff might have been in and out of the country for his business, but it also seems that the system at ZIFA is not keen to utilise and tap into what he saw and experienced in Rwanda and generally his experience with such competitions as the team manager over the years.
“It appears he is just being frustrated out of the system although it is not yet clear what the reasons could be and as a result of the way things are at the moment, he has not been at the forefront of co-coordinating the upcoming camp by negotiating with those who own such faculties like the gym and the training fields,’’ the sources said.
Apart from the Highlanders and Chicken Inn players who will be involved in the Easycall Cup final at Barbourfields, the rest of the 32-man side called up by Pasuwa are expected to troop much earlier into camp tomorrow.
There are also hopes that the Warriors could face West African giants Cameroon in one of the warm-up matches before their departure for Rwanda.
Pasuwa, who was assistant to Gorowa when the Warriors finished fourth at the last CHAN tournament in Cape Town, will also be hoping that he does not lose the bulk of the players he called up to foreign clubs at least before the tournament starts.
The Warriors coach should be quietly praying that the pair of Under-23 captain Wisdom Mutasa and striker Walter Musona will get their reverse international clearances from Slovakia to Aces Youth Academy on time in order to be eligible for the CHAN competition
It is a similar tale with leftback Ronald Pfumbidzai, who is understood to have returned home from Denmark amid strong indications that he is being loaned back to CAPS United for next season by Hobro IK.
Online Reporter