Former Warriors gaffer Norman Mapeza has dug his own grave and effectively dismissed himself from the Warriors’ job by taking Zifa to court, a Zifa board member has said.
Speaking soon after a stormy Central Soccer League midseason review meeting in Gweru at the weekend, Zifa board member for competitions Benedict “Grinder” Moyo said Zifa had not given current senior national team gaffer Rahman Gumbo a contract when Mapeza took the football mother board to court, as alleged in Mapeza’s court papers.
The former Warriors captain, through his lawyers Kantor & Immerman is suing Zifa for $400 000 stemming from unpaid salaries, allowances and damages after the football mother board extended Gumbo’s mandate to take charge of the Warriors’ 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Mapeza’s contention in his court papers filed with the Ministry Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, is that Zifa gave Gumbo a contract on July 31 in spite of the fact that he still had a running contract with the association.
Moyo said by taking Zifa to court, Mapeza had shown that he could not work with the association and effectively severed ties with the country’s supreme football body. He said Zifa had not entered into any contract with Gumbo when Mapeza took his case to court contrary to the former Monomotapa coach’s contentions in the court papers.
“It’s very unfortunate that Mapeza has taken us to court because football matters are not taken to court and Fifa statutes are very clear on that. I don’t know who advised him that we had given Rahman Gumbo a contract.
“When he took us to court, Rahman (Gumbo) did not have a contract by then but now he has left us with little or no choice because once you take Zifa or your own employer to court, you are saying you cannot work together.
“In actual fact, he is the one who severed ties with us by taking us to court, but we will try to find an amicable solution because we always believe that there is always a solution,” Grinder said.
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Mapeza is suspended and awaits the outcome of the investigations into the Asiagate match-fixing scandal before he can clear his name. The scandal has also sucked in another former Warriors captain Benjani Mwaruwari who was expected in the country yesterday to give his evidence before the Justice Ahmed Ebrahim-led independent committee.
