Sports / Soccer
Zifa only banning Sweswe, Mwanjali and Mushekwi
02 Feb 2012 at 22:25hrs | Views
Zifa president Cuthbert Dube says recent Asiagate ban does not affect 82 players but just three players Nyasha Mushekwi, Method Mwanjali and Thomas Sweswe.
ZIFA said on Monday that it had "indefinitely suspended" 67 players, although some reports had the number at 82.
There was even talk that the ban may affect the players in the PSL in South Africa.
Reports quoted Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze and board member Benedict Moyo confirming the block suspension, but today Zifa did a U-turn, with president Cuthbert Dube revealing that only three footballers â€" Mwanjali, Mushekwi (Mamelodi Sundowns) and Sweswe (Kaizer Chiefs) â€" have been blacklisted from the Warriors ahead of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burundi this month.
"As the Zifa president I can categorically say that these three players, I don't want to see them for the Burundi match," Dube said. "For a player of Method's calibre to perform like that [against Cape Verde] it raises a lot of questions."
Dube said yesterday that Zifa would not interfere with the independent Ethics Committee â€" led by former Supreme Court judge and international cricket match referee Ahmed Ebrahim â€" currently investigating the Asiagate scandal.
"We have not banned a single player. We don't want to interfere with the work of the Ethics Committee that is why we called them an independent body," said Dube.
"Method Mwanjali, Thomas Sweswe and Nyasha Mushekwi's performance in the last Africa Cup of Nations match against Cape Verde was way, way below par. It is understandable in sport it does happen that one day you can go off form.
"Even the the Mighty Warriors didn't perform well in their recent match, but it complicates things when one is implicated. We are saying these three should definitely and officially not be in the line-up for the Burundi match until they have been cleared by the Ebrahim Committee.
"We feel the situation was compounded by the performance in Cape Verde and we feel we could have won that match and qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations.
"The coach is free to select all the other players mentioned in the report. There hasn't been anything official sent to the players clubs because doing so at this stage means we are interfering with the Ebrahim Committee."
Dube added, however, that if the Ethics Committee does decide to ban the 80 players, they will not participate in Zimbabwe's Nations Cup qualifiers.
ZIFA said on Monday that it had "indefinitely suspended" 67 players, although some reports had the number at 82.
There was even talk that the ban may affect the players in the PSL in South Africa.
Reports quoted Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze and board member Benedict Moyo confirming the block suspension, but today Zifa did a U-turn, with president Cuthbert Dube revealing that only three footballers â€" Mwanjali, Mushekwi (Mamelodi Sundowns) and Sweswe (Kaizer Chiefs) â€" have been blacklisted from the Warriors ahead of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burundi this month.
"As the Zifa president I can categorically say that these three players, I don't want to see them for the Burundi match," Dube said. "For a player of Method's calibre to perform like that [against Cape Verde] it raises a lot of questions."
Dube said yesterday that Zifa would not interfere with the independent Ethics Committee â€" led by former Supreme Court judge and international cricket match referee Ahmed Ebrahim â€" currently investigating the Asiagate scandal.
"We have not banned a single player. We don't want to interfere with the work of the Ethics Committee that is why we called them an independent body," said Dube.
"Method Mwanjali, Thomas Sweswe and Nyasha Mushekwi's performance in the last Africa Cup of Nations match against Cape Verde was way, way below par. It is understandable in sport it does happen that one day you can go off form.
"Even the the Mighty Warriors didn't perform well in their recent match, but it complicates things when one is implicated. We are saying these three should definitely and officially not be in the line-up for the Burundi match until they have been cleared by the Ebrahim Committee.
"We feel the situation was compounded by the performance in Cape Verde and we feel we could have won that match and qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations.
"The coach is free to select all the other players mentioned in the report. There hasn't been anything official sent to the players clubs because doing so at this stage means we are interfering with the Ebrahim Committee."
Dube added, however, that if the Ethics Committee does decide to ban the 80 players, they will not participate in Zimbabwe's Nations Cup qualifiers.
Source - kickoff
