Sports / Soccer
Zifa, Gorowa in talks of Warriors coaching job
23 Apr 2014 at 02:32hrs | Views
ZIFA have revived their bid to try to tie Ian Gorowa to a Warriors' contract ahead of the start of the 2015 African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, but there are indications that it might take longer for them to thrash a fresh deal with the coach.
Gorowa has been coaching the Warriors on a mutual agreement since he took over from German Klaus Dieter Pagels at the end of July last year.
The former Ajax Cape Town and Moroka Swallows coach endeared himself to the nation when he guided the Warriors to the CHAN finals and, subsequently, a fourth-place finish on the tournament's final day in Cape Town on February 1.
That success, however, came just a month before the end of the tenure of the zifa board and the new leadership, which came into power on March 29, resolved at their first meeting on April 12, to re-engage the coach on the contract talks.
It is against this background that zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze was tasked by the board to engage Gorowa and ensure that an agreement is reached with the Johannesburg-based gaffer for him to sign a contract to coach the Warriors.
It has also emerged that cash-strapped zifa still owe Gorowa outstanding salaries for the last five months, a move which is key in the contract talks as it could stall progress.
Mashingaidze yesterday confirmed that the zifa board had resolved to try and get Gorowa into agreeing to a deal ahead of the start of the journey to possible qualification for the 2015 Nations Cup to be staged in Morocco.
The Confederation of African Football will on Sunday conduct the draw for the next round of the qualifiers for the Nations Cup and zifa are hoping to have completed the contract talks with Gorowa at least by then.
"The board at its first meeting in Harare resolved to be furnished with the coach's plan for the 2015 campaign, the outstanding reports and for the coach to consider the draft of the contract that was offered to him in 2013.
"The board wants to have a position on what the coach wants to do in terms of the qualifiers and although the whole board will have collective responsibility for the national teams, board member Tawengwa Hara was tasked with interfacing with the national teams.
"He (Hara) was tasked to handle the corporate affairs and special projects such as the Football Trust, zifa patents, which include things like TV rights, constitutions and the regulations in liaison with the association's legal advisor (Ralph Maganga) and the secretariat.
"So we are now awaiting response from the coach but we hope to have resolved the issue of the contract by the end of the week and I am sure the coach will also have furnished the board with his response and an action plan," Mashingaidze said.
The zifa chief executive said tying Gorowa to a fresh and long-term deal and putting together a new strategy for the national teams' international commitments were some of the major items which the association's new leadership wanted to settle within their first 100 days in office.
Gorowa, yesterday declined to discuss his Warriors contract and immediate plans insisting that he would first communicate "directly" with the association.
"I have no comment to make on any of those issues except to say that I have received correspondence from zifa and I have written back to them today," Gorowa said.
Although Gorowa was coy on the contract talks with zifa, sources close to the goings on in the Warriors camp indicated that the coach was keen to have "some outstanding issues addressed first" before possibly inking a deal to take charge of the Warriors on a long-term basis.
Gorowa, the sources said, remained keen on coaching the Warriors and believes the senior team has the potential to reach their third Nations Cup finals, having previously done so only twice under Sunday Chidzambwa and in Tunisia in 2004, before Charles Mhlauri led them to the finals in Egypt two years later.
"There is no doubt that the coach is committed to the project to help the Warriors qualify for the 2015 Nations Cup in Morocco but before he can look at that, there are some outstanding issues from 2014 which need to be addressed.
"There is also no contract yet because what is there is a draft which would need the two parties to further discuss and finalise on before any deal is signed.
"The issue of the CHAN prize money is still to be concluded and what was agreed to between the squad and the association has not yet been fulfilled and this is one of the key issues that needs to be resolved so that the players, the technical department and the association is clear before the qualifiers for the Nations Cup start.
"Already there is a dispute in that the CHAN squad had been promised 50-50 share of the prize money during the competition but that had been revised downwards when the money eventually came and this is an outstanding issue which zifa have to fully resolve.
"The coach has also not been paid salaries for five months and it is something he would probably want clarified before contract talks can be finalised," the sources said.
Gorowa has been coaching the Warriors on a mutual agreement since he took over from German Klaus Dieter Pagels at the end of July last year.
The former Ajax Cape Town and Moroka Swallows coach endeared himself to the nation when he guided the Warriors to the CHAN finals and, subsequently, a fourth-place finish on the tournament's final day in Cape Town on February 1.
That success, however, came just a month before the end of the tenure of the zifa board and the new leadership, which came into power on March 29, resolved at their first meeting on April 12, to re-engage the coach on the contract talks.
It is against this background that zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze was tasked by the board to engage Gorowa and ensure that an agreement is reached with the Johannesburg-based gaffer for him to sign a contract to coach the Warriors.
It has also emerged that cash-strapped zifa still owe Gorowa outstanding salaries for the last five months, a move which is key in the contract talks as it could stall progress.
Mashingaidze yesterday confirmed that the zifa board had resolved to try and get Gorowa into agreeing to a deal ahead of the start of the journey to possible qualification for the 2015 Nations Cup to be staged in Morocco.
The Confederation of African Football will on Sunday conduct the draw for the next round of the qualifiers for the Nations Cup and zifa are hoping to have completed the contract talks with Gorowa at least by then.
"The board at its first meeting in Harare resolved to be furnished with the coach's plan for the 2015 campaign, the outstanding reports and for the coach to consider the draft of the contract that was offered to him in 2013.
"The board wants to have a position on what the coach wants to do in terms of the qualifiers and although the whole board will have collective responsibility for the national teams, board member Tawengwa Hara was tasked with interfacing with the national teams.
"He (Hara) was tasked to handle the corporate affairs and special projects such as the Football Trust, zifa patents, which include things like TV rights, constitutions and the regulations in liaison with the association's legal advisor (Ralph Maganga) and the secretariat.
"So we are now awaiting response from the coach but we hope to have resolved the issue of the contract by the end of the week and I am sure the coach will also have furnished the board with his response and an action plan," Mashingaidze said.
The zifa chief executive said tying Gorowa to a fresh and long-term deal and putting together a new strategy for the national teams' international commitments were some of the major items which the association's new leadership wanted to settle within their first 100 days in office.
Gorowa, yesterday declined to discuss his Warriors contract and immediate plans insisting that he would first communicate "directly" with the association.
"I have no comment to make on any of those issues except to say that I have received correspondence from zifa and I have written back to them today," Gorowa said.
Although Gorowa was coy on the contract talks with zifa, sources close to the goings on in the Warriors camp indicated that the coach was keen to have "some outstanding issues addressed first" before possibly inking a deal to take charge of the Warriors on a long-term basis.
Gorowa, the sources said, remained keen on coaching the Warriors and believes the senior team has the potential to reach their third Nations Cup finals, having previously done so only twice under Sunday Chidzambwa and in Tunisia in 2004, before Charles Mhlauri led them to the finals in Egypt two years later.
"There is no doubt that the coach is committed to the project to help the Warriors qualify for the 2015 Nations Cup in Morocco but before he can look at that, there are some outstanding issues from 2014 which need to be addressed.
"There is also no contract yet because what is there is a draft which would need the two parties to further discuss and finalise on before any deal is signed.
"The issue of the CHAN prize money is still to be concluded and what was agreed to between the squad and the association has not yet been fulfilled and this is one of the key issues that needs to be resolved so that the players, the technical department and the association is clear before the qualifiers for the Nations Cup start.
"Already there is a dispute in that the CHAN squad had been promised 50-50 share of the prize money during the competition but that had been revised downwards when the money eventually came and this is an outstanding issue which zifa have to fully resolve.
"The coach has also not been paid salaries for five months and it is something he would probably want clarified before contract talks can be finalised," the sources said.
Source - The Herald
