Mapeza will be asked to step aside over Asiagate

By Augustine Hwata

ZIFA are expected to name an interim coach, to take charge of the Warriors’ 2013 Nations Cup qualifier against Burundi, either today or tomorrow, with all pointers leading to German gaffer Dieter Klaus-Pagels.

Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze said a decision will be taken on the coach either today or tomorrow. The two board members, who were away, have both returned home and yesterday Elliot Kasu and Benedict Moyo held a meeting with Zifa president Cuthbert Dube to discuss the Warriors’ technical team.

Norman Mapeza will be asked to step aside to clear his name, which has been linked to the Asiagate scandal, which rules him out of taking charge of the Burundi tie at the end of the month. His assistant, Joey Antipas, will also be ordered to step aside and to clear his name.

Antipas traveled to matches in Asia while Mapeza led a team at the Cecafa tournament in Kenya in 2010. Zifa expect the Justice Ebrahim-led Independent Disciplinary Commission to complete its work by the middle of next month, and should Mapeza and Antipas be cleared, they will resume their jobs with the Warriors.

Dube, Kasu and Moyo met last Monday and resolved that anyone fingered in the Asiagate report should be suspended until they are cleared by the Ebrahim Commission.

Already Zifa have issued a blanket ban on 80 players who were implicated in the match-fixing report and now it’s certain that Mapeza has all but been pushed out ahead of the Warriors’ Nations Cup qualifier against Burundi.

While there is very little evidence to support claims that Mapeza was corrupted during that Cecafa tournament, Zifa are taking a hardline approach. And Mapeza’s case is not helped, either, by the fact that he has very little support on the Zifa board, with his backing notably coming from Dube.

It means those who have always opposed his tenure as Warriors’ coach have sharpened their knives.

The former Warriors’ skipper lost a board vote, to decide who should be the head coach when Madinda Ndlovu was still part of the set-up, 2-9, last year. The national team coaches have a daunting task of coming up with a squad which should troop into camp on February 19.

“For now I am not committed to give the FA’s position on the set up of the technical team. The board is still to make the deliberations as you are aware that some of the members, Moyo and Kasu, were away.

“So we will make an authoritative position on the status of the technical team at the appropriate time.  Maybe by Monday (today) or Tuesday (tomorrow) we should make an official statement,” said Mashingaidze.

Last week Mashingaidze and Moyo revealed that 80 players had been suspended from taking part in the Burundi tie. But Dube brought interim relief to the players when he announced that only Thomas Sweswe, Method Mwanjali and Nyasha Mushekwi had been blacklisted.

Hardly 24 hours later, Dube made a sensational U-turn and revealed that all the players mentioned in the report has been suspended. Dube insisted at the weekend that there would be zero percent tolerance towards corruption in domestic football because there was need to reassure potential investors that the game was clean.

Dube also dismissed allegations that he bribed some councilors to vote for him.

In a speech, read on his behalf by former Buymore team manager, Richard Mutasa, during the official presentation of medals and shields to the winners of the Zifa Harare Province Division Two leagues at Raylton Sports Club on Saturday, Dube said corruption had no place in football.

“We should have zero tolerance to corruption and match fixing in our football. Our operations should be clean so that we are able to attract investment into our game. There are also people who claim that I have bribed come councilors, so does this mean that councilors are also corrupt if they accepted,” he said.

During the ceremony, Skylink were presented with a floating shield and medals for winning the Harare Division Two A league championship and will, this season, campaign in the Zifa Northern Region Division One.

K C Feeds were the winners of Harare Division Two B league and will be making a return to the Division One. “The other message that I have from Dr Dube here is that the teams that have been promoted to Division One should not behave like pendulums that swing back and forth.

“Instead the teams should aim forward and hope to get a ticket to the Premiership instead of getting relegated again at the end of the season,” he said.

Speaking at the same event, Sports Commission’s operations manager Daniel Kuwengwa, said his organisation was happy with the efforts being made by the Zifa Harare Province to develop football.

“There used to be 17 areas zones across the whole country but right now Harare alone has 15 such leagues and these feed into Divisions Three and Two then one.  “The SRC is committed to general sports development and it is my hope that Harare province carries a business approach in their game.

“However, we are also aware that sport, usual, suffers from lack of resources and limited capacity to administer.  We also have politicking killing sport and lack of resources but these bottlenecks should never be allowed and if there is good governance, I am sure the challenges will be overcome.”

Meanwhile, Dube also presented winners of the Mashonaland Division Two championship with a shield and medals. The winners Chivhu Stars, will be playing in the Eastern Region Division One together with their runners-up Surrey Abattoirs. Former CAPS United marketing executive, Valentine Gwaze, is now the director at Chivhu Stars.