Sports / Soccer
Khama Billiat joins Warriors camp
07 Jun 2017 at 06:48hrs | Views
WARRIORS forward, Khama Billiat will, after all, join his national football team mates in camp today, after his South African club Mamelodi Sundowns gave in to pressure and released the player for national duty.
Sundowns had reportedly refused to release the player for Sunday's 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Liberia set for the National Sports Stadium, saying he was injured.
Efforts by the Warriors technical team to have Billiat in camp so that their doctors could assess him had hit a brick wall.
The player had publicly stated his desire to be involved for the Warriors at the weekend.
However, after Zifa president, Philip Chiyangwa on Monday threatened to report Sundowns to Fifa for refusing to release the player for national duty, it appears the club has given in.
Warriors team manager, Wellington Mupandare yesterday revealed that Billiat has been released and was expected in Harare today.
"I can confirm that Billiat has now been cleared after we had discussions with the club. He sent me a message to say that he had finally been released. So we are expecting him to be in tomorrow (today)," Mupandare said.
Fifa statutes compel clubs to release players for national duty five days prior to the match.
Sundowns had initially indicated that they would release the player, but after he missed their Caf Champions League match against Esperance of Tunisia on Friday night because of injury, they felt he was not in good shape to play for the Warriors at the weekend.
The player had said he was hoping to have recovered by the time the game kicks off on Sunday.
It was claimed that former Warriors skipper, Peter Ndlovu was blocking Billiat's trip for the match.
Mupandare claimed the Zimbabwe football legend was frustrating efforts to fly in the player for the assignment, including cutting all communication channels with the Warriors technical team.
He is expected to arrive in the country together with defender, Onismor Bhasera, who also delayed joining camp due club commitments.
Sundowns had reportedly refused to release the player for Sunday's 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Liberia set for the National Sports Stadium, saying he was injured.
Efforts by the Warriors technical team to have Billiat in camp so that their doctors could assess him had hit a brick wall.
The player had publicly stated his desire to be involved for the Warriors at the weekend.
However, after Zifa president, Philip Chiyangwa on Monday threatened to report Sundowns to Fifa for refusing to release the player for national duty, it appears the club has given in.
Warriors team manager, Wellington Mupandare yesterday revealed that Billiat has been released and was expected in Harare today.
"I can confirm that Billiat has now been cleared after we had discussions with the club. He sent me a message to say that he had finally been released. So we are expecting him to be in tomorrow (today)," Mupandare said.
Fifa statutes compel clubs to release players for national duty five days prior to the match.
Sundowns had initially indicated that they would release the player, but after he missed their Caf Champions League match against Esperance of Tunisia on Friday night because of injury, they felt he was not in good shape to play for the Warriors at the weekend.
The player had said he was hoping to have recovered by the time the game kicks off on Sunday.
It was claimed that former Warriors skipper, Peter Ndlovu was blocking Billiat's trip for the match.
Mupandare claimed the Zimbabwe football legend was frustrating efforts to fly in the player for the assignment, including cutting all communication channels with the Warriors technical team.
He is expected to arrive in the country together with defender, Onismor Bhasera, who also delayed joining camp due club commitments.
Source - newsday
