Shabanie, Harare City court Zifa anger
By Ricky Zililo
Shabanie Mine and Harare City have courted Zifa’s ire after appointing their initial coaches to positions of technical manager and team manager in a move viewed as bypassing Club Licensing.
Newly promoted Shabanie Mine and Harare City technically bowed down to pressure from Zifa and elevated their assistant coaches to positions of head coaches, while re-assigning gaffers Taku Shariwa and Mkhuphali Masuku.
Shabanie Mine unsuccessfully bypassed the Club Licensing system by naming Shariwa technical manager, with Wilson Mutekede as head coach, while Harare City registered Masuku as team manager.
Shariwa was on the bench when Shabanie Mine held champions Caps United to 0-0 draw at Maglas Stadium in Zvishavane.
Our sister publication The Sunday Mail reported that Harare City used their goalless draw against Yadah FC to prove Mike ‘Dread’ Madzivanyika was the real head coach and not a decoy after he was elevated to take over from Masuku, who doesn’t have the mandatory Caf A coaching licence.
According to the Sunday Mail, Masuku was glued to the bench for the entire duration of the match as Madzivanyika barked instructions as a head coach ought to.
Unlike Shariwa who missed Shabanie Mine’s post-match interview, Madzivanyika faced the media in post-match interviews.
Zifa communications and club licensing manager Xolisani Gwesela said the national association would take ‘corrective action’ against Premier Soccer League clubs that attempt to bypass the Club Licensing system by appointing unqualified coaches to other positions.
“Zifa would like to reiterate that no unqualified coaches are allowed to sit on the bench and that Caf A licences are still a prerequisite. We are very much aware that some clubs have dodged the system by appointing unqualified coaches as team managers. We view this as beating the system. As Zifa, we take great exception to this dubious distinction, and we urge clubs to be professional. Coaches without requisite badges are also prohibited from entering the field during warm-up. Zifa will take corrective action on unprofessional clubs because implementation of Club Licensing is meant to bring professionalism to our clubs,” said Gwesela.
He said they have also noted with dismay that some clubs are still utilising the services of unqualified medical personnel.
“Let me explicitly state that only qualified medical doctors and physiotherapists are allowed to sit on the bench,” Gwesela said.
He also revealed that players without licences would not be allowed to play in the second Premiership weekend.
“In the opening games of the 2017 Premier Soccer League season, we allowed some teams to play without licences since the licensing process was still in progress. However, players without licences will not be allowed to play in the second round of fixtures because the Zimbabwe Football Association has issued licences to all registered and eligible players. Issuing of player licences and those of the technical teams was delayed by the transition from the manual registration system to an online platform known as Zimbabwe Connect,” Gwesela said.The Chronicle
