Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIFA’s search for a new Warriors coach has officially shut the door on most local candidates, even the country’s finest.
The association wants a coach with at least five years’ experience in top-tier African competitions and a CAF Pro or UEFA Pro license, a combination that rules out almost every Zimbabwean tactician.
That means Warriors legends Norman Mapeza, Kalisto Pasuwa, and Sunday Chidzambwa, the men who’ve actually led the team at the AFCON, are effectively ineligible.
Mapeza guided Zimbabwe at the 2021 AFCON and took FC Platinum into the CAF competitions at least twice, though they fell in the early rounds.
Pasuwa, now head coach of Malawi, qualified Zimbabwe for AFCON 2017, steered Dynamos in the Champions League between 2012 and 2014, and took Nyasa Big Bullets on several continental runs.
And Chidzambwa’s record is unmatched, he took Dynamos to the 1998 Champions League final, qualified Zimbabwe for their first AFCON in 2004, and returned to do it again in 2019.
But without the top tier CAF or UEFA Pro badge, all three fall short of ZIFA’s strict new requirements.
“The Head Coach will lead, manage and develop the Warriors to achieve competitive excellence in COSAFA, AFCON and FIFA competitions,” ZIFA said in their call for applications, posted on both the ZIFA and FIFA websites.
While the ad looks ambitious, critics say it’s a polite way of saying “locals need not apply.”
“This criteria clearly favours foreigners,” said one insider.
“It’s almost impossible for a local coach to meet the CAF Pro requirement when ZIFA itself hasn’t facilitated that training here.”
Names already linked to the post include Milutin “Micho” Sredojević, Adel Amrouche, and German veteran Winfried Schafer, all foreign, all CAF tested, all expensive.
The new coach will take charge of next month’s high-profile friendlies against Algeria and Qatar, before leading the Warriors into the 2025 AFCON in Morocco.
