Zimbabwe deport national team coach

By Chengetai Zvauya

Zimbabwe’s newly appointed soccer coach is being deported four days ahead of a home match against Cape Verde in African Cup of Nations qualifying.

Benedict Moyo of the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) said Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet was given deportation orders while training with the team Tuesday. He had been coaching without a formal work permit and was told to leave the country by Wednesday.

Moyo said the coach would return if his permit application is approved and “we are just following the rules.”

A second member of the coaching lineup, Lutz Pfannenstiel of Germany, who denies allegations of involvement in match-fixing in Singapore a decade ago, is also being expelled for not clearing immigration formalities.

Moyo said Saintfiet signed a four-year contract in Harare on Sept. 24. It remains valid but would likely fall away if his work permit is denied.

Since the coach’s arrival in Zimbabwe last month, his appointment has split the sport’s local governing body with some officials favouring Zimbabwean caretaker coach Norman Mapeza being given the post.

Saintfiet’s application for a work permit was submitted to the state Sports and Recreation Commission for approval. Documents available Wednesday said the commission demanded an explanation why a foreign coach was hired and offered a salary of $8,000 a month, plus allowances.

The commission said its policy favoured local coaches and it only would support foreigners getting the job if there were “clear advantages” which the football association still had to justify.

State radio reported Wednesday that Saintfiet, the former Namibia coach, had angry exchanges Tuesday with football association officials and abruptly left the training field at the National Sports Stadium outside Harare.

Some ZIFA officials had earlier accused Saintfiet of including false information about his career in his application for the post, allegations he denied.

Pfannenstiel, recruited by Saintfiet, told the Associated Press he was preparing to leave the country Wednesday.

He said he was cleared of match-fixing charges linked to a gambling syndicate in Singapore in 2001 and world governing body FIFA had lifted a temporary ban on him participating in world soccer.

The former goalkeeper said he has played or coached in several countries since then, including Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Namibia, with Saintfiet.

Pfannenstiel played for the Calgary Mustangs and Vancouver Whitecaps.

State media described ZIFA’s new coaching lineup as a “farce of blunders” just weeks after it suspended chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya on allegations of match-fixing involving Asian betting syndicates during a tournament in Malaysia in December when Zimbabwe lost 6-0 to Syria and 3-0 to Thailand. The Canadian Press