Sports / Soccer
Zimbabwe Warriors face Fifa ban
23 Jan 2013 at 00:20hrs | Views
Zifa is reportedly making frantic efforts to raise the required resources to enable the Warriors to fulfill their World Cup qualifier match against Egypt in March amid fears of a ban by Fifa in the event of the team failing to make the trip.
Zifa has indicated that its priority is to raise adequate resources to enable the Warriors to fly to Cairo for the match against the Pharaohs.
There are however, security fears as Egypt has been in political turmoil for more than a year now.
Egypt has been experiencing violent clashes over the last one-and-a-half years while their national soccer league has been in limbo for a year following the death of 70 Al-Ahly fans who were attacked by their Al-Masry counterparts last year.
The Warriors are supposed to fly to Cairo for a World Cup qualifier against the Pharaohs on 23 March with the return leg set for Harare two weeks later.
However, it is increasingly becoming more frustrating and embarrassing for the cash-strapped Cuthbert Dube-led Zifa board which is reportedly in the red.
There are fears that the Warriors might fail to fulfill the fixture unless a financial rescue package is availed.
"The turmoil in Egypt could be of concern to us if everything was normal but things in our camp are not normal as we speak.
"There is no money to fulfill that fixture and as I speak to you the Egyptian ambassador is always consulting us to find out whether we will fly to Egypt because he knows that there is a possibility of them getting three points for a walkover," said Zifa vice president Ndumiso Gumede who is also responsible for national teams.
He said while the head coach Klaus Dieter-Pagels has already started identifying players in preparation for the encounter, Zifa did not have resources to fund the camp for the players.
"We have a bank overdraft of $4 million so at the moment our priority is to raise funds for the trip to Egypt as well as resources for the camp and other preparation costs," said Gumede.
He said in the next three weeks, the association should be in a position to know whether that game will be fulfilled or not.
"As Zifa we are fully committed to fulfilling the rest of our remaining matches because we believe there is still an outside chance of us making it to Brazil, there is no doubt about our zeal to go to Cairo. The reality however is that we might fail to make it given our circumstances," said Gumede
He however said what was positive was that the Warriors' chances of going through were still very bright and the advantage was that the team could have players who would want to prove a point and make names for themselves.
The national association has embarked on an ambitious national team rebuilding programme that will see the new faces joining the team, many of them from Under-23 following the Asiagate scandal.
More than 100 players were punished for their involvement in the scandal that rocked local football.
"If we get players with the right attitude, players who want to prove a point, the national team will achieve something. We no longer want players who will first demand to know how much they will be paid even before they kick the ball," said Gumede.
The Zifa vice president said they were aware that they risked being banned by Fifa in the event of failing to fulfill the Egyptian fixture.
Failure by the Warriors to travel to Cairo will be the third time that a national representative side fails to fulfill a fixture since the Dube board came into office three years ago.
It was first the Under-17 side that failed to go for the second round, second leg African Youth Championships against Congo Brazzaville with Zifa coming up with flimsy excuses for their failure and the continental mother body, Confederation of African Football (Caf) immediately slapped the nation with a three-year ban from all competitions.
That ban came barely a few weeks after another developmental side, the Under-20, were handed a similar ban for their failure to fulfill a second leg tie against Angola. It is also the present Zifa board that caused Bulawayo giants, Highlanders' three-year ban by Caf after registering them without their consent.
Zifa has indicated that its priority is to raise adequate resources to enable the Warriors to fly to Cairo for the match against the Pharaohs.
There are however, security fears as Egypt has been in political turmoil for more than a year now.
Egypt has been experiencing violent clashes over the last one-and-a-half years while their national soccer league has been in limbo for a year following the death of 70 Al-Ahly fans who were attacked by their Al-Masry counterparts last year.
The Warriors are supposed to fly to Cairo for a World Cup qualifier against the Pharaohs on 23 March with the return leg set for Harare two weeks later.
However, it is increasingly becoming more frustrating and embarrassing for the cash-strapped Cuthbert Dube-led Zifa board which is reportedly in the red.
There are fears that the Warriors might fail to fulfill the fixture unless a financial rescue package is availed.
"The turmoil in Egypt could be of concern to us if everything was normal but things in our camp are not normal as we speak.
"There is no money to fulfill that fixture and as I speak to you the Egyptian ambassador is always consulting us to find out whether we will fly to Egypt because he knows that there is a possibility of them getting three points for a walkover," said Zifa vice president Ndumiso Gumede who is also responsible for national teams.
He said while the head coach Klaus Dieter-Pagels has already started identifying players in preparation for the encounter, Zifa did not have resources to fund the camp for the players.
"We have a bank overdraft of $4 million so at the moment our priority is to raise funds for the trip to Egypt as well as resources for the camp and other preparation costs," said Gumede.
He said in the next three weeks, the association should be in a position to know whether that game will be fulfilled or not.
"As Zifa we are fully committed to fulfilling the rest of our remaining matches because we believe there is still an outside chance of us making it to Brazil, there is no doubt about our zeal to go to Cairo. The reality however is that we might fail to make it given our circumstances," said Gumede
He however said what was positive was that the Warriors' chances of going through were still very bright and the advantage was that the team could have players who would want to prove a point and make names for themselves.
The national association has embarked on an ambitious national team rebuilding programme that will see the new faces joining the team, many of them from Under-23 following the Asiagate scandal.
More than 100 players were punished for their involvement in the scandal that rocked local football.
"If we get players with the right attitude, players who want to prove a point, the national team will achieve something. We no longer want players who will first demand to know how much they will be paid even before they kick the ball," said Gumede.
The Zifa vice president said they were aware that they risked being banned by Fifa in the event of failing to fulfill the Egyptian fixture.
Failure by the Warriors to travel to Cairo will be the third time that a national representative side fails to fulfill a fixture since the Dube board came into office three years ago.
It was first the Under-17 side that failed to go for the second round, second leg African Youth Championships against Congo Brazzaville with Zifa coming up with flimsy excuses for their failure and the continental mother body, Confederation of African Football (Caf) immediately slapped the nation with a three-year ban from all competitions.
That ban came barely a few weeks after another developmental side, the Under-20, were handed a similar ban for their failure to fulfill a second leg tie against Angola. It is also the present Zifa board that caused Bulawayo giants, Highlanders' three-year ban by Caf after registering them without their consent.
Source - TC
