Coach drags Zifa to court

By Tendai Kamhungira

A football coach has dragged the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) to the High Court, seeking an order for the soccer governing body to release results for a training course that he and 40 others undertook in Bindura last year.

Abel Chimusaru, who is the applicant in the matter, cited Zifa, Joseph Mamutse, Wilson Mutekede and Xolisani Gwesela as respondents.

According to the application, Mamutse is the Zifa chief executive officer, Mamutse and Mutekede are the football organisation’s technical directors, while Gwesela is the communications manager.

“On the 25th of June 2017 to the 9th of July, the applicant (Chimusaru) together with 40 other coaches who attended to a coaching course in Bindura which was supervised and organised by the first respondent (Zifa) through its instructors.

“The said course was for a Confederation of African Football (Caf) C coaching certificate which in terms of the club licensing system is mandatory for a coach to have attained for him or her to coach either as head coach of division two or being an assistant coach in division one,” he said.

The former Monomutapa Football Club player, however, said it’s now over a year and the soccer governing body has not yet released the results making it difficult for him and others to secure employment or advance their careers.

He is now seeking an order that: “1st — 4th respondents be and are hereby ordered to immediately release the results of the applicant and the results of every student that attended the courses by the respondent that are being withheld for reasons only known to them.

“That the 1st — 4th respondents take concrete and definitive steps to ensure that all results of students who attended its courses that are withheld, be and are hereby released”.

Chimusaru further told the court that after realising that more than a year had passed without receiving or being notified of the results for the course attended, he wrote emails to Caf and copied them to Zifa officials on August 30, 2018, enquiring about when the results were going to be released.

“The respondents did not bother to reply or even notify the applicant on his position. On September 2, 2018, the applicant then wrote another email to Caf and the respondents to further remind them of the August 30, 2018 email which they did not respond to.

“The applicant finally wrote another email on September 9, 2018 reminding Caf and the respondents as final demand to hear the official position but as of date, applicant has never received any favourable response,” he said.

He said this was not the first time that Zifa has received such a complaint, as clients and coaches across the country have been complaining about the organisation’s decision to withhold the results.

“The widespread disregard of the law and this unlawful behaviour by the respondents and similarly his employees has prompted the applicant to launch this application. The affected coaches are of different levels intending to progress to the next level of their respective coaching badges.

“As of now, the applicant and other coaches are seated at home, not doing anything and the continued withholding of their results is seriously detrimental to their coaching aspirations. The applicant is left with no option but to compel the respondents to release his results together with those of the applicant’s course mates forthwith so that the applicant can register for the upcoming courses in future,” he said.

Zifa and the other respondents, have however, not yet responded to the application. DailyNews