By Petros Kausiyo
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s preparations for the African Nations Championships were thrown into turmoil last night when ZIFA sacked Warriors coach Callisto Pasuwa and dissolved the senior team’s camp in a move that is set to send shock waves in the domestic game.
ZIFA vice president Omega Sibanda announced in a statement last night that they have sacked the entire technical crew led by Pasuwa and roped in Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas as the new senior team gaffer.
“At an extraordinary meeting of the ZIFA national executive committee on 17 December at Harare, it was resolved that the technical department led by Callisto Pasuwa be relieved of their duties with immediate effect.
“The following have been appointed to take charge of the 2016 CHAN tournament and the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations campaign. “Head coach Joey Antipas, first assistant coach Tonderai Ndiraya, second assistant coach Mandla Mpofu, goalkeepers’ coach Peter Nkomo, team manager Wellington Mpandare, fitness manager/Liaison officer Cosmas Zulu, team doctor Dr Togarepi, physiotherapist Farai Muguwe.
“National team camp is hereby dissolved with immediate effect and new camp dates will be announced in due course,’’ said Sibanda. The decision to fire Pasuwa appears to have been triggered by the major fallout the coach had earlier in the morning at a stormy meeting with Sibanda at which the former DeMbare gaffer strongly resisted the move to fire team manager Shariff Mussa and replace him with former Gunners manager Mpandare.
Pasuwa insisted at the meeting attended by technical director Maxwell Takaendesa Jongwe, ZIFA chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze and Mpandare that he would not accept the imposition of personnel In his dressing room.
The coach also argued that he saw no reason to replace Mussa with whom he had a fine working relationship and who has always used his personal resources to bail out the cash- strapped association.
Mussa, who is also a favourite with both local and foreign-based players, travelled to Rwanda for the CHAN draw and joined the Confederation of African Football officials in inspecting the facilities that will be used for the tournament and Pasuwa questioned the wisdom of changing the technical set-up on the eve of the competition.
Following the impasse, Sibanda summoned Pasuwa’s manager Gibson Mahachi, but it seems no solution was reached. Mahachi earlier confirmed the meeting, but declined to discuss details of their discussions. Mahachi confirmed meeting with Sibanda but declined to discuss the contents of the indaba.
“All I can say is that yes I was summoned to meet with the ZIFA vice-president over the issues of the problems they had with the coach but I am not in a position to give any details. We could be meeting again tomorrow,’’ Mahachi said.
But following last night’s developments, that meeting will probably be on more about paying the coach what he is owed than issues related to the CHAN tournament.
Pasuwa has gone unpaid for the last five months but has soldiered on and had called up a 32-man squad for which Dynamos vice-captain Ocean Mushure was the absentee after he went AWOL.
However, it is against the background of Pasuwa’s resistance to board room interference on technical matters that the ZIFA leadership then conspired to fire the coach and his entire technical team that included assistants Saul Chaminuka, Nation Dube and Richard Tswatswa (goalkeepers) and team doctor Soulman Mudariki.
The decision to fire Pasuwa which is ill-timed as it is senseless set to trigger a huge backlash against the new zifa board that was only elected into office on December 5. Many people including FIFA development officer for Southern Africa Ashford Mamelodi have been urging the new board to unite the domestic football family that was left polarised in the run up to the elections.
However, the board’s fight with Premier Soccer League chairman Twine Phiri over his leadership of top-flight body and the latest decision to throw the Warriors’ camp into turmoil are not likely to win the leadership many friends and sympathisers.
In the week that zifa sent out an SOS to the government, corporate world and individual sponsors seeking $150 000 for the chan tournament, the chaos in the association could make the board’s decision to mobilise resources even harder.
That Pasuwa who was still to get a contract was fired at short notice and zifa immediately announced replacement also raised questions about Sibanda’s sincerity in ten meeting he held with the record four time Premiership championship’s coach’s fate seemed to have been sealed by then.
Unbeknown to him the session that Pasuwa conducted at Gateway High School in the afternoon where he emphasized on the need for discipline and punctuality among his charges was his last as the Warriors coach.
“Sooner or later Pasuwa was always going to be fired because some of the members of the new board want to come in with their own people and this will spread to the secretariat and other structures so it just needed the coach to resist interference to find a way to sack him,’’ sources said.
Pasuwa, however, remains popular for his exploits in his stint as Warriors and Under-23 coach in which he guided his teams to the African Games in Congo Brazzaville and the chan tournament.
The 44-year-old coach also leaves the Warriors in a very strong position to qualify for the 2017 African Cup of Nations finals as they lead their group which includes Malawi, Guinea and Swaziland. The Herald
