Vusumuzi Dube
Fungai Muderere
THE Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) on Tuesday announced that the holding of all coaching courses has been suspended.
In a notice that was addressed to Zifa regional and provincial administrators, the association’s secretary general Xolisani Gwesela wrote: “Zifa advises that all coaching programmes have been suspended with immediate effect.”
The development comes at a time they have been no CAF A coaching classes in Zimbabwe compelling a number of coaches to travel to other countries that include Tanzania to ttain the certificate.
Recently, former Mighty Warriors coach Shadreck Mlauzi who led the country’s senior national women’s team to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil was among four Zimbabwean football gaffers set to attend a Caf A Licence course in Tanzania.
Mlauzi went there alongside former national team defender and Supersport United’s Kaitano Tembo, ex-Warriors assistant coach who is part of Hwange’s technical team Bongani Mafu and Try Ncube who led Hwange back.
The first block of the continental top coaching course ran for 10 days from July 7 to 16.
Hwange’s pair of Mafu and Ncube missed their team’s two Premiership matches at home to ZPC Kariba as well as Matchday 15’s away clash with Black Rhinos.
The duo has not been sitting on their team’s technical bench during games, watching from the terraces while Nation Dube barks instructions from the touchline.
Mafu and Ncube, just like Highlanders’ Joel Luphahla, Antonio Torres and Madinda Ndlovu have been allowed to join their teams at warm-ups as well as halftime, sharing notes with their head coaches during the course of the game.
The South Africa-based Tembo joined the class as just like Zimbabwe, the two countries have gone for six years without organising a Caf A Licence course, with the last being in 2017.
By taking up the elite Caf course in Tanzania, the quartet of Mlauzi, Mafu, Ncube and Tembo are followed in the footsteps of Triangle United’s coach Thulani Sibanda who started his year-long tutorials in the East African country last year.
Most countries are insisting on hiring Premiership coaches with Caf A badge, meaning that locals without the qualification can upgrade themselves in other countries.
In Zimbabwe, the football mother body has been enforcing policies and regulations in the game, with the clean-up exercise targeting at having only qualified personnel and authorised individuals at the Premiership dugouts.
A number of assistant coaches and support staff were “ejected” to the terraces after failing to get accredited as they don’t have requisite qualifications.
Zifa wants everyone to adhere to Fifa/Caf Club Licensing requirements.
Zifa implemented standardisation for local football coaching that required all top-flight coaches to possess a Caf A licence at the beginning of the 2017 season.
Standardisation of coaches meant that Premiership gaffers and their trainers should be in possession of a Caf A badge.
Division One coaches should have a minimum of Caf B while assistant coaches are required to be holders of a Caf C or Zifa Level Four licence.
In the Second Division, a coach should have a Caf C licence while his understudies are required to have a Level Three qualification as a minimum standard.
The coaching standards also cascaded down to Division Three, tertiary institutions and schools. For secondary schools, a Zifa Level Two badge became mandatory and primary school football coaches were expected to have at least Level Two certificate-@FungaiMuderere
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu