BY FORTUNE MBELE
IN a move that is likely to irk Zifa, Chicken Inn have said their coach Joey Antipas will only be joining the Warriors camp a day before their Group H Afcon qualifier on Friday if the mid-week league games are not cancelled in a move set to throw the national team’s preparations into disarray.
The Warriors take on Botswana at the National Sports Stadium on Friday and Chicken Inn have mid-week league fixture on Wednesday against Mushowani Stars at Trojan Mine in Bindura.
The Chicken Inn leadership said they cannot play without their coach, who is also doubling as the Warriors’ gaffer.
The GameCocks are eyeing the league title and closed the gap on log-leaders CAPS United after beating Triangle at Luveve Stadium yesterday.
Chicken Inn spokesperson Tavengwa Hara said after the Warriors’ match on Friday, Antipas will rejoin them for their league game on Saturday before returning to the Warriors to prepare for another Afcon qualifier against Zambia away at National Heroes Stadium on Tuesday.
“We can’t have a coach-less team. If the league games are not cancelled, the coach [Antipas] will join the Warriors after our league game against Mushowani and come back to take charge of our league game on Saturday after the Warriors’ match on Friday,” Hara said.
On Saturday, Chicken Inn are supposed to host relegation-threatened Hwange at Luveve Stadium, a day after the Warriors’ game against Botswana. Antipas said normally the league games must be cancelled in an appeal to the PSL to reschedule domestic topflight matches.
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“In a normal country games are cancelled when it’s a Fifa weekend or week, but I don’t know what is going to happen because we should not be playing during the Fifa week. We have to try and manage the situation and see what gives,” Antipas said.
The PSL is under pressure to have their games finish the topflight league programme on time.
