Sports / Soccer
Cronyism in Zifa appointment, Omega Sibanda defends appointments
18 Jun 2017 at 10:26hrs | Views
WARRIORS legends Sunday Chidzambwa and Moses Chunga could find themselves in the midst of a conflict of interest row following their appointment as national team coaches when they
Chidzambwa, who is currently employed by premiership side ZPC Kariba, was named as the Warriors coach specifically for the Cosafa tournament which begins next Sunday up to July 9 in the North West Province in South Africa while Chunga takes charge of the national U17 side.
The Zifa high perfomance committee strongly recommended the firing of former Warriors coach Kalisto Pasuwa after the Africa Cup of Nations campaign in Gabon.
The appointments, however, come when the duo are still members of the Zifa high perfomance committee, whose role is to oversee the same national teams that they have been assigned to coach.
Sources who spoke to Standardsport said Zifa did not follow due process before making the appointments.
"Zifa should have dissolved the old committee first to enable the old members to be eligible for such appointments by the new committee," the source said.
"The board should have met to appoint a new committee which was going to make recommendations to the board to consider the list of appointees that they would come up with. Basically, the new committee should have been made public well before the appointments were made."
Another source said Zifa's Chidzambwa and Chunga appointments were questionable as they were part of the committee that was supposed to have recommended the coaches.
"The appointments are a charade. What it basically means is that the high perfomance committee members have appointed themselves which is the height of bad governance by Zifa," said the source.
Zifa vice-president Omega Sibanda, however, defended the appointments, arguing that due process was followed. He could not confirm when Chunga and Chidzambwa stepped down from their initial roles.
"Do we have to announce to the public that they have left [the Zifa high perfomance committee] and are awaiting appointment? Those things happen behind the scenes and you can't make everything public. Besides, being in the high perfomance committee does not mean that they can't take charge of their own national team. Remember if the coach resigns or we fire him the technical director takes over, that's the norm, so there's nothing amiss," Sibanda said.
Zifa vice-president, Omega Sibanda, who is also the HPC chairman, said Chidzambwa will stand aside while he is with the Warriors. He said Moses Chunga, who was named Under-17 national team coach on Friday, will also be temporarily stepping down the HPC.
"They cannot take on both roles because it would be contradictory hence they will recuse themselves while they are still acting. They can only permanently leave the HPC if they are confirmed as national team coaches," said Sibanda. He justified the appointments saying they were on merit. Sibanda said looking at the current pool of available coaches with the requisite qualifications; those named to the positions were the right people to take up the jobs.
"All appointments are made on merit and after we sat down and looked at those who qualify we realised they (coaches) have the requisite experience to take up the posts. The appointment of a different coach to take on the Cosafa Cup assignment is not something new as it has happened before. Remember this competition falls outside the Fifa calendar and in some instances the dates clashed with those of Afcon matches meaning there had to be another coach in charge," he said.
Sources at Zifa revealed FC Platinum expressed concern the continued absence of their head coach, Norman Mapeza, who is in charge of the Warriors' Afcon campaign, saying it might dent their title challenge. Sibanda said they have great belief in local coaches and will continue to show faith in their abilities by assigning them to national team roles.
Other members of the HPC are Innocent Chogugudza, Rahman Gumbo and Masimba Chihowa whose role is to assess the performance and offer advice on the appointment of national team coaches. The HPC also assist with technical advice to national teams.
Chidzambwa, who is currently employed by premiership side ZPC Kariba, was named as the Warriors coach specifically for the Cosafa tournament which begins next Sunday up to July 9 in the North West Province in South Africa while Chunga takes charge of the national U17 side.
The Zifa high perfomance committee strongly recommended the firing of former Warriors coach Kalisto Pasuwa after the Africa Cup of Nations campaign in Gabon.
The appointments, however, come when the duo are still members of the Zifa high perfomance committee, whose role is to oversee the same national teams that they have been assigned to coach.
Sources who spoke to Standardsport said Zifa did not follow due process before making the appointments.
"Zifa should have dissolved the old committee first to enable the old members to be eligible for such appointments by the new committee," the source said.
"The board should have met to appoint a new committee which was going to make recommendations to the board to consider the list of appointees that they would come up with. Basically, the new committee should have been made public well before the appointments were made."
Another source said Zifa's Chidzambwa and Chunga appointments were questionable as they were part of the committee that was supposed to have recommended the coaches.
"The appointments are a charade. What it basically means is that the high perfomance committee members have appointed themselves which is the height of bad governance by Zifa," said the source.
Zifa vice-president Omega Sibanda, however, defended the appointments, arguing that due process was followed. He could not confirm when Chunga and Chidzambwa stepped down from their initial roles.
"Do we have to announce to the public that they have left [the Zifa high perfomance committee] and are awaiting appointment? Those things happen behind the scenes and you can't make everything public. Besides, being in the high perfomance committee does not mean that they can't take charge of their own national team. Remember if the coach resigns or we fire him the technical director takes over, that's the norm, so there's nothing amiss," Sibanda said.
Zifa vice-president, Omega Sibanda, who is also the HPC chairman, said Chidzambwa will stand aside while he is with the Warriors. He said Moses Chunga, who was named Under-17 national team coach on Friday, will also be temporarily stepping down the HPC.
"They cannot take on both roles because it would be contradictory hence they will recuse themselves while they are still acting. They can only permanently leave the HPC if they are confirmed as national team coaches," said Sibanda. He justified the appointments saying they were on merit. Sibanda said looking at the current pool of available coaches with the requisite qualifications; those named to the positions were the right people to take up the jobs.
"All appointments are made on merit and after we sat down and looked at those who qualify we realised they (coaches) have the requisite experience to take up the posts. The appointment of a different coach to take on the Cosafa Cup assignment is not something new as it has happened before. Remember this competition falls outside the Fifa calendar and in some instances the dates clashed with those of Afcon matches meaning there had to be another coach in charge," he said.
Sources at Zifa revealed FC Platinum expressed concern the continued absence of their head coach, Norman Mapeza, who is in charge of the Warriors' Afcon campaign, saying it might dent their title challenge. Sibanda said they have great belief in local coaches and will continue to show faith in their abilities by assigning them to national team roles.
Other members of the HPC are Innocent Chogugudza, Rahman Gumbo and Masimba Chihowa whose role is to assess the performance and offer advice on the appointment of national team coaches. The HPC also assist with technical advice to national teams.
Source - the standard - zimpapers
