News / Local
Zifa in Loga dilemma
10 Sep 2021 at 02:30hrs | Views
The Felton Kamambo-led Zifa board faces a herculean task of coming up with replacement for Warriors coach Zdravko Logarušic in the event they decide to fire him as is expected ahead of next month's Africa Group G Fifa World Cup back-to-back clashes against Ghana.
Logarušic is set to be sacked when the Zifa board meets to review the Warriors' performance against South Africa (nil-all draw) and Ethiopia (0-1 defeat), respectively.
The gaffer presided over a single win in 14 attempts at the helm of the senior men's team and fans are baying for his blood.
While chances are high that he might be relieved of his duties, the limited options available ahead of next month's crucial matches could earn him a reprieve.
There have been suggestions that Zifa will get rid of Logarušic and replace him with a local coach, but the pool to choose from is quite limited.
FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza would have been a natural replacement for Logarušic, but his club, who are participating in the Caf Champions League, are likely to block the move.
To compound the problem, the association owes Mapeza money from previous stints as national team coach and he would demand the settlement of his dues first before he can commit to a new deal.
Zifa are currently broke after they squandered all the money received from Fifa and Caf over the course of the year.
Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas, who presided over the Warriors' first two matches in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and picked four points, would have been another candidate. However, the gaffer does not hold the required qualifications.
A quick fix would be the appointment of either Tonderai Ndiraya or Lloyd Chitembwe who are both assistants to Logarušic.
Chitembwe played a lot for the national team and also took Caps United to the group stages of the Caf Champions League, while Ndiraya coached Ngezi Platinum Stars in the Confederation Cup.
Both coaches' names are likely to come up for discussion if Zifa were to proceed with sacking Logarušic.
There are some board members though who are defending Logarusic arguing that it would be hard to replace him.
They also contend that Logarušic has been unlucky in the campaign, especially with the blocking of United Kingdom-based players from travelling to Zimbabwe for the matches due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Logarušic is set to be sacked when the Zifa board meets to review the Warriors' performance against South Africa (nil-all draw) and Ethiopia (0-1 defeat), respectively.
The gaffer presided over a single win in 14 attempts at the helm of the senior men's team and fans are baying for his blood.
While chances are high that he might be relieved of his duties, the limited options available ahead of next month's crucial matches could earn him a reprieve.
There have been suggestions that Zifa will get rid of Logarušic and replace him with a local coach, but the pool to choose from is quite limited.
FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza would have been a natural replacement for Logarušic, but his club, who are participating in the Caf Champions League, are likely to block the move.
To compound the problem, the association owes Mapeza money from previous stints as national team coach and he would demand the settlement of his dues first before he can commit to a new deal.
Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas, who presided over the Warriors' first two matches in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and picked four points, would have been another candidate. However, the gaffer does not hold the required qualifications.
A quick fix would be the appointment of either Tonderai Ndiraya or Lloyd Chitembwe who are both assistants to Logarušic.
Chitembwe played a lot for the national team and also took Caps United to the group stages of the Caf Champions League, while Ndiraya coached Ngezi Platinum Stars in the Confederation Cup.
Both coaches' names are likely to come up for discussion if Zifa were to proceed with sacking Logarušic.
There are some board members though who are defending Logarusic arguing that it would be hard to replace him.
They also contend that Logarušic has been unlucky in the campaign, especially with the blocking of United Kingdom-based players from travelling to Zimbabwe for the matches due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Source - NewsDay Zimbabwe
