adminSikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Reporter
SIXTY-TWO Zifa panel referees are expected to undergo a final theory and fitness test at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) in Bulawayo tomorrow and on Saturday. The fitness test will be used to select referees for the 2014 season with those who fail the test set to wait until sometime in January next year.
Zifa fitness trainer Joseph Mususa confirmed the dates for the final test and said even those aspiring to be on the Zifa panel next year must come and be assessed.
“Our theory work starts on Friday (tomorrow) with the fitness test set for Saturday morning between 7-11am. This is part of the exercise to be eligible for consideration for the 2014 Zifa panel list,” said Mususa, himself a former Fifa panel referee.
He said those who would fail over the weekend have to wait for another similar exercise next year.
The Zimbabwe Referees Committee has previously been accused of manipulating fitness test results with referees who are alleged to be in the “wrong camp” getting negative results and eventually being stuck off the register.
Experienced referees like Brighton Malandule and Happy Mabhena are among those who were frozen out of the system after alleged manipulation of the fitness test results.
derick.khumalo