THE national women football team returned to training yesterday to prepare for their 2016 Rio Olympic qualifier against Ivory Coast, a day after boycotting a session in protest over unpaid bonuses and allowances.
BY HENRY MHARA
This was after the players met with Zifa president Cuthbert Dube who reportedly made a commitment to settle the debt, which dates back to last year’s African Women Championship first round qualifier against Botswana in March.
Besides the Botswana match, the Mighty Warriors also played international matches against Zambia (twice) and Ghana in the ACW, All-Africa Games and Rio Olympic qualifiers.
The debt, a reliable source said yesterday, has ballooned to over $1 500 per player.
The players staged a sit-in on Wednesday to force the troubled association to the negotiating table.
And after they were granted an audience by Dube on Wednesday afternoon, the players turned up at Rufaro Stadium yesterday morning and prepared normally for their final training before their scheduled departure for Abidjan this morning.
They will face off against the West Africans on Sunday before the return leg in Harare two weeks later.
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Speaking to NewsDay Sport after the team’s morning training session, Mighty Warriors assistant coach Yohannes Chikaola said they were happy that normalcy had returned to the camp.
“The preparations have resumed and are going on well. The players are adapting to our training methods which are hugely inclined on the physical aspects because we are playing a very physical side. But obviously, we are also preparing on the tactical, technical and set-pieces and I must say that the players are in good shape,” Chikaola said.
“We have spoken to the girls and told them to put yesterday’s (Wednesday) events behind them and put the nation first. Sometimes we just have to be patriotic despite the problems that we could be facing and that is the message that we have put across to them.”
Chikaola said there were no injury worries for the team, and the technical team yesterday named the final 18 that will make the trip.
Coach Rosemary Mugadza maintained the squad that beat Zambia in the previous round with returning striker Rutendo Makore, who has been absent from the team for the past 12 months, the only new inclusion in the travelling squad.
She has replaced Samkeliso Zulu who was not called for camp.
The team was expected to leave this morning and arrive in Abidjan in the evening after a brief stop-over in South Africa.
The winner of this two-legged encounter will advance to the final qualifying round where they will face either Ghana or Cameroon for a place at the Rio 2016 Olympics finals.
Mighty Warriors travelling squad: C Dzingirai, P Chatsamwa, T Mandaza, N Majika, S Makoto, P Mujuru, E Msipa, M Nyaumwe, F Muzongondi, M Chirandu, R Makore, R Neshamba, E Chibanda, R Kapfumvuti, B Kabwe, E Jeke, L Mutokuto, M Murandu.
