Zifa have already suspended 82 players, among them Thomas Sweswe, Method Mwanjali, Edward Sadomba, Khama Billiat, Ovidy Karuru and Washington Arubi, and are also looking at suspending the two coaches as they too have been fingered in the scandal.
The Warriors will kick-start their 2013 Afcon qualifying campaign against Burundi on February 29 with the return leg slated for the weekend of June 15 to June 17. The association’s chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze said Zifa’s position is that everyone implicated in the match-fixing scandal should temporarily excuse themselves from the Warriors set-up until they have been cleared by the Independent Ethics Committee.
“I cannot pass the judgment on coaches because the board member responsible for competitions, Benedict Moyo, is out of the country.
“However, our position as Zifa is that everyone implicated in the scandal should step aside. The suspension does not apply to players only, but to everyone involved. People should clear their names first before any future involvement with the team and that is why the committee was set-up,” he said.
Mashingaidze added that by next week Zifa would have sent letters to the clubs giving them names of players they would have identified to play in the Burundi tie.
“The whole of next week we will be looking at the composition of the national team and everything will be in place before the end of the week. Remember we have 14 days to notify the clubs that have players we want for national duty.
“Everything will be in place next week, including the technical team. As a nation we still have a strong pool of players. Remember we have players such as Musa Mguni, Noel Kaseke, Tinashe Nengomasha and Knowledge Musona,” he said.
Mashingaidze could not reveal the next Warriors coach, but closes sources confirmed that German national Klaus-Dieter Pagels will be unveiled as the coach this week.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Antipas said he could not comment because of the sensitivity of the issue while Mapeza maintained that he was still the head coach.
Zifa are also said to be investigating all of the 2012 qualifiers as there is a feeling that the games may have been fixed.
In another development, Monomotapa FC face a ban from football following their trip to Asia where they masqueraded as the Warriors.
