Pasuwa set for exit

THE Warriors finally left for Cameroon but the war between the players and Zifa left a lot of wreckage.

H-Metro revealed that Kalisto Pasuwa's fate is sealed before the Warriors even kick the ball at the 2017 AFCON finals.

He is headed for the exit.

Despite trying not to be involved in the fracas between the two parties in the past days – over bonuses and allowances – the belief at Zifa at the moment is that cutting the head is panacea to stop what they view as ‘player power'.

The send-off dinner boycott by the Warriors on Friday night which left Zifa with a lot of egg on their face was the final nail and indications are the association could blacklist some players in the future.

Refusal to travel as planned early Saturday morning also left the association and sponsors with an administrative headache as they started working on flights and bookings again.

"This has not made the situation any easier for Pasuwa. Despite trying not to be involved in the stand-off, he was still sucked in at the end.

"The situation was not made any better by the fact that the coach and the association's relations were already at the edge. There is strong belief that he has a lot of influence on the players," said an H-Metro source.

Before the Warriors agreed to leave for the Cameroon friendly, a deal was reached to pay each player US$5 000 as appearance fee for every AFCON game and a winning bonus of US$6 000.

The players will also get 40 percent share of the US$475 000 qualification bonus that all the 16 teams are entitled to.

"This episode is good enough reason to make sure they fire Pasuwa after the tournament, regardless of what comes out. The reason being if they are to dismantle this group of players or blacklist some, with the unity that they have, they believe bringing in a new coach will be the starting point.

"Most of the friction has however been witnessed between Pasuwa and chairperson of the High Performance Committee and also Zifa vice-president, Omega Sibanda.
Omega Sibanda
Omega Sibanda

"And when the players said it is better to carry some of the players that were in the 31-man squad to Gabon rather than members of the HPC, it seemed as if Pasuwa, who has all along resisted the HPC being imposed on him, was behind the resistance."

Omega however is on record telling H-Metro recently that he has nothing against Pasuwa and his committee is not after telling him what to do. Pasuwa on the other hand has been silent on the issue but has resisted the HPC idea.

The source added that the Pasuwa issue is just part of the wreckage left by the players and association war over the past days.

"It was complex. The biggest problem however is that the reason why the players took such a position to demand large sums was never really explained. The association is not coming out with all the details that led to this situation.

"The reality is that these players are owed a lot of money by Zifa. And when they started camp, they raised the issue with the association. Remember they were also promised a large some for qualification which they never got.

"Although recent sponsorship was unveiled to cover all basic needs of the team, the sponsor was not in a position to pay Zifa debts and it made a lot of sense.

"The players then took a position that they knew would benefit them fully even if some of the money they are owed does not come, which will be the case," said the source.

Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa did not give the background of unfulfilled promises and breakdown of trust between them and the players.

"ZIFA, before the $1,000,000 injection, submitted an initial proposal to the team for allowances and bonuses totaling US$ 1 617 024. 99, which was countered by the players with their proposal totaling $2 933 150," said the association in a statement, trying to explain how the players had taken an extreme position.

"ZIFA further revised the proposal after acquiring the US$1 000 000 injection from the Government by passing the entire $1,000,000 to the Team giving a final figure of US$ 2 645 525 a figure which was now very close to the players' initial demand of US$2 933 150. Again, the players changed goal posts and submitted another counter proposal of US$ 5 737 250.

"The second proposal from ZIFA would result in each player getting around $67,000 for a successful AFCON campaign with the Group stages earning each player an appearance fee of US$ 1 000 per match, $2000 winning bonus per match and US$6 000 qualification bonus for proceeding to the next stage. Furthermore, each player would get US$ 50 local daily allowance and $100 foreign daily allowance."

A compromise was reached which benefitted the players more, paving way for the trip to Cameroon.

After the Cameroon friendly tomorrow the Warriors will connect to Gabon for their first group B game against the Desert Foxes of Algeria on January 15 at Stade de Franceville.

They play Senegal next on January 19 at the same stadium before the Tunisia clash on January 23 at Stade de l'Amitié.