The Warriors of Zimbabwe are in South Africa for the Cosafa Cup, but, more importantly for coach Sunday Chidzambwa, to build his team for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Congo Brazzaville, Congo DR and Liberia.
By MICHAEL KARIATI
Unfortunately, Chidzambwa will no longer have the opportunity to have a look at some of his players after those at Zifa headquarters failed to do the simple task of convincing the Registrar-General’s Office to issue out passports to national team players.
There was no need for Zifa to approach the Sports minister or the Sports and Recreation Commission as regards the passports because this is a matter Zifa could have handled on their own had they done so in time.
What is more disturbing is that Tendai Darikwa, Macauley Bonne, Kundai Benyu, and Admiral Muskwe were in Zimbabwe way back in November, 2017, of which by now, their Zimbabwean passport would have been processed had there been seriousness at the football headquarters.
Why did the football federation wait for six months to start applying for their passports?
Chidzambwa had also called up Andy Rinemhota from the United Kingdom as well Germany-based Kelly Lunga, who are also missing in the Cosafa Cup action due to the passport factor.
The question is: What is Joseph Mamutse doing as Zifa CEO when national team players are missing in Cosafa Cup action because they do not have, of all things, passports to represent Zimbabwe?
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Something like this would not have happened during the days of former Zifa chief excecutive officer Henrietta Rushwaya. Like her or not, Rushwaya might have had her faults, but the woman was so efficient in carrying out her duties that issues like passports — even with the circumstances at hand — would not have been a problem. It is not good to compare the past and the present, but one thing for sure is that those at Zifa offices should also look at the way Rushwaya ran her office as regards the Warriors’ welfare and learn one or two things.
We don’t want a situation where one day, the Warriors will arrive for an away assignment without not only their training kit, but their uniforms as well.
Right now, however, Zifa should sort out the passport issue before September when the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers roar into life. Or they can ask Rushwaya how she used to do it.
Confusion of the highest order
The now he is fired and now he is back saga of Dynamos coach Lloyd Mutasa clearly shows confusion of the highest order in the home of Zimbabwe’s biggest and most popular football team.
Word doing rounds is that the chairman of the club’s board of directors, Bernard Marriot — for long DeMbare kingmaker — has asked the club leadership to reinstate Mutasa to his old position of head coach.
The truth is that if the Dynamos executive, headed by Keni Mubaiwa, did not agree with Marriot, they could simply have said no to Mutasa’s reinstatement. The fact that they agreed clearly shows that they also felt that Mutasa should return.
Mutasa has been inactive since he was fired at DeMbare on May 8 and the question is: what did he do in those three weeks of inactivity that has forced Dynamos to take him back after having fired him for “poor performance”?
Or is it that Dynamos have been so inept, and so unattractive during the four matches of the Biggie Zuze reign that Marriot felt DeMbare made a mistake when they fired Mutasa? Or that the leadership upon reflection thinks they erred in replacing Samaita with Bindura?
Or that those in charge of the club have buckled under pressure from their legion of fans who have been questioning why Mutasa was fired in the first place and what criteria was used to replace him with Zuze?
Fine, Dynamos had not been playing as exciting as Dynamos fans would want their team to be, but, was Zuze’s record of one win, two draws and one loss bad enough for a coach to lose his job ?
With the confusion that is reigning supreme at DeMbare, it might not be a surprise if Mutasa is once again asked to stay away from the bench should his assistant Lloyd Chigowe win the two games he will be in charge of during the period that Mutasa is away with the national team in South Africa for the Cosafa Cup.
Imagine what the new situation would be at Dynamos should Chigowe pick up six points in the games against Triangle this afternoon, and the one away to Mutare City Rovers at Vengere Stadium. That would be a completely new story.
Since the departure of Kalisto Pasuwa at the end of the 2014 season, Dynamos have hired and fired four coaches — Tonderai Ndiraya, Jorge Silva, Biggie Zuze, and Mutasa, who was hired, fired, and rehired.
If all these coaches were not good enough, isn’t it time for the one who hired them to also get the sack for hiring the wrong people for the coaches’ job?
However, the truth is that the results of Dynamos’ next four league matches will have strong consequences as to the direction the club is heading. One thing, they should avoid, though, is falling once again into the relegation zone.
They might not be able to rise from there again.
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