Sports / Soccer
Cuthbert Dube praise Warriors as Zifa workers petition him
07 Jul 2015 at 01:53hrs | Views
Zifa president Cuthbert Dube has heaped praise on the Warriors following their 0-0 away draw to Comoros in the preliminary round, second leg of the 2016 Orange African Nations Championships (Chan) on Saturday.
This comes as ZIFA employees petitioned Dube, crying foul over salaries which have not been paid for a number of months.
Virtually all the Zifa workers, save for the association's chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze and spokesperson, Xolisani Gwesela, have signed the petition, and believe that their employer has been neglecting their welfare.
Zifa, who are broke, have been struggling to meet their obligations and have also failed to pay Warriors coach, Callisto Pasuwa, for the 10 months that he has been in charge of the senior national team and the Young Warriors.
The Warriors arrived in the Comoros three hours before the match aboard a chartered Air Zimbabwe flight as financial challenges continued to bite Zifa. Coach Kalisto Pasuwa had also abandoned ship on Thursday night due to unpaid dues and was only persuaded to travel after intervention from the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC).
According to the Zifa's official website , Dube on Monday hailed the spirit exhibited by head coach Kalisto Pasuwa and his team before and during the match.
He said such dedication could take Zimbabwean football to greater heights.
"Congratulations to the team for a job well done under challenging circumstances. We are proud of the resilience displayed by both the technical team and the players in getting a favourable result away from home.
"Only such dedication towards serving national football can take Zimbabwean football to the next level as the national teams' results have clearly shown lately," Dube said.
"In the face of liquidity challenges, we are still appealing to the nation as a whole to assist in every way possible to make national team preparations and assignments a success," Dube added.
Reads part of the petition :
"Following our letter requesting for staff welfare dated 27th April 2015, we as the staff would like to bring to your attention that this matter is still to be addressed and this has now affected our day-to-day operational obligations as Secretariat," the Zifa workers said in their statement.
"We last received a back pay in February 2015, we are now fourteen (14) months in arrears.
"We have been battling to make ends meet for both our families and coming to work daily, needless to speak of a healthy life.
"Mr President Sir, some of our colleagues have been in and out of hospital and our employer, ZIFA, has not assisted in any way whatsoever. In the process, we have lost one of our dear colleague, Ms Sheila Ncube, who was not able to foot medical bills on her own, moreover most of the staff members have been evicted out of their (rented) houses due to non-payment of rentals.
"Others have had their properties attached. Our children have been kicked out of school just to mention (but a) few.
"Sir, we have been reduced to mere paupers, turned into professional beggars in order to make ends meet," the Zifa workers said.
This comes as ZIFA employees petitioned Dube, crying foul over salaries which have not been paid for a number of months.
Virtually all the Zifa workers, save for the association's chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze and spokesperson, Xolisani Gwesela, have signed the petition, and believe that their employer has been neglecting their welfare.
Zifa, who are broke, have been struggling to meet their obligations and have also failed to pay Warriors coach, Callisto Pasuwa, for the 10 months that he has been in charge of the senior national team and the Young Warriors.
The Warriors arrived in the Comoros three hours before the match aboard a chartered Air Zimbabwe flight as financial challenges continued to bite Zifa. Coach Kalisto Pasuwa had also abandoned ship on Thursday night due to unpaid dues and was only persuaded to travel after intervention from the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC).
According to the Zifa's official website , Dube on Monday hailed the spirit exhibited by head coach Kalisto Pasuwa and his team before and during the match.
He said such dedication could take Zimbabwean football to greater heights.
"Congratulations to the team for a job well done under challenging circumstances. We are proud of the resilience displayed by both the technical team and the players in getting a favourable result away from home.
"Only such dedication towards serving national football can take Zimbabwean football to the next level as the national teams' results have clearly shown lately," Dube said.
"In the face of liquidity challenges, we are still appealing to the nation as a whole to assist in every way possible to make national team preparations and assignments a success," Dube added.
Reads part of the petition :
"Following our letter requesting for staff welfare dated 27th April 2015, we as the staff would like to bring to your attention that this matter is still to be addressed and this has now affected our day-to-day operational obligations as Secretariat," the Zifa workers said in their statement.
"We last received a back pay in February 2015, we are now fourteen (14) months in arrears.
"We have been battling to make ends meet for both our families and coming to work daily, needless to speak of a healthy life.
"Mr President Sir, some of our colleagues have been in and out of hospital and our employer, ZIFA, has not assisted in any way whatsoever. In the process, we have lost one of our dear colleague, Ms Sheila Ncube, who was not able to foot medical bills on her own, moreover most of the staff members have been evicted out of their (rented) houses due to non-payment of rentals.
"Others have had their properties attached. Our children have been kicked out of school just to mention (but a) few.
"Sir, we have been reduced to mere paupers, turned into professional beggars in order to make ends meet," the Zifa workers said.
Source - Zifa
