Zifa owe Pasuwa $100k

By Godknows Matarutse

Ex-Warriors coach Callisto Pasuwa is not a bitter man after he was sacked by Zifa but is praying that he will be paid his outstanding dues amounting to over $100 000.

Zifa pointed to the Warriors’ dismal performance at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in Gabon last month as the reason behind Pasuwa’s sacking.

The Warriors were booted out of the tournament at the group stages following defeats to Senegal and Tunisia while picking up a single point in the draw against Algeria.

Pasuwa’s fate was effectively sealed last week when the Zifa High Performance Committee (HPC) met in the capital and recommended the coach’s sacking.

However, Pasuwa’s manager Gibson Mahachi yesterday told the Daily News that his client had welcomed the decision but urged the association to play their part by settling what they owe him.

“There is nothing wrong with the position they have taken. It’s actually the right thing to do anyway,” Mahachi said.

“We don’t have any hard feelings as it is actually normal in football. It’s actually above board. We only hope the association will be able to own up and clear what they owe to the coach.

“I’m sure they know how much they owe him and we hope they will be able to meet his dues.”

Pasuwa has not been paid his salary since May 2016 despite Harare businessman Wicknell Chivayo promising to cater for coach’s welfare.

Apart from not receiving his salary for the past nine months, Pasuwa is also yet to get his $15 000 signing-on fee which was due to him when he agreed terms with Zifa last year.

Before signing that contract, Pasuwa had been working with a game-by-game basis deal for more than a year.

The former Warriors coach is also entitled to a $20 000 bonus for guiding the Warriors to qualify for the Afcon tournament.

Queried if they would take the legal route in the event that Zifa fails to settle the debt, Mahachi said: “I’m confident they would be gentlemen enough. I wouldn’t want to talk of something that is not there yet.”

Zifa are now set to start the process of hiring a new Warriors coach with a number of candidates having been already linked to the vacant post.

Former Warriors goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar is willing to occupy the hot seat while Dutchman Pieter de Jongh has also been floated around as a possible replacement.

Former Warriors coaches Moses Chunga, Sunday Chidzambwa and Rahman Gumbo have also been linked with the post.

The trio are however, members of the HPC and Zifa vice president Omega Sibanda claimed they will not be considered for the post.

There would be a great deal of conflict of interest if any of the three Chunga, Chidzambwa or Gumbo would be appointed the Warriors coach.

They were part of the process that sealed Pasuwa’s fate and for them to end up filling the vacancy would present Zifa with a huge good governance problem.

Meanwhile, the Warriors have dropped on the latest Fifa/Coca-Cola world football rankings released yesterday.

The Warriors, who were ranked 103rd last month, are now ranked 105th in the world while remain 32nd best in Africa.

Zimbabwe’s poor performance at the Afcon finals in Gabon seems to have impacted on their latest ranking.

Newly-crowned African champions Cameroon have moved up to 33rd, a massive 29-place jump, while Egypt, who lost in the final, remained number one on the continent and 25th in the world.

Argentina remain at number one ahead of Brazil and world champions Germany on the list.

The top 10 remains almost unchanged, with Chile, Belgium, France, Colombia, Portugal, Uruguay and Spain also earning a spot there.

France (now sixth) and Colombia (seventh) have swapped places since the last rankings were released. Daily News