THE Zifa board came under fire yesterday for engaging former Warriors coach Ian Gorowa, who is accused of having been a player agent.
TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
The Zifa board, led by its president Cuthbert Dube, appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education, Sport, Arts and Culture yesterday.
Responding to questions by Hurungwe MP Temba Mliswa, who is also the chairperson of the committee, as to why the soccer governing body had appointed Gorowa — a player agent — Zifa board member for development John Phiri said when Gorowa was appointed, he was not yet a board member and referred questions to Dube.
Dube told the House that they were not aware that the coach was a player agent.
He, however, acknowledged that Gorowa had done very well at the helm of the Warriors despite his charges being elbowed out of the race for the 2015 African Cup of Nations finals in Morocco.
“We were not aware about it at the time we made the appointment,” Dube said.
“We were surprised that after our last game against Tanzania, we had six players who were immediately sold to South African clubs although we are still to receive the transfer fees for those players.
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“While Gorowa did a fantastic job at the Chan [African Nations Championships] tournament, I was surprised that there was one player who was continually being played yet he was not playing well.”
Gorowa was supposed to appear before the committee, but resigned from his post on Monday ahead of the board meeting that was supposed to decide his fate on Wednesday. Dube said Gorowa had phoned him to say he was unable to come as the invitation had come at short notice.
Gorowa was also due to appear before the committee to explain the Warriors’ failure to qualify for the 2015 African Cup of Nations football group stages qualifier.
The Warriors lost 1-0 away to lowly Tanzania and drew 2-2 at home to bow out of the competition.
In his resignation letter, Gorowa cited personal reasons for his decision to quit.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns and Moroka Swallows coach took over from German coach Klaus Dieter Pagels in July last year and was in charge for 17 matches and lost two.
There has, however, been bad blood between Gorowa and the Zifa High Performance Committee chaired by John Phiri particularly against its vice Gibson Homela following the coach’s refusal to submit reports and a CV for a review by the committee.
Gorowa challenged the committee saying he did not report to it, but directly to Zifa.
