Zifa have indicated that they have no capacity to pay Warriors coach Kalisto Pasuwa the $7 000 monthly salary that he is demanding.
BY Kevin Mapasure
Pasuwa has no contract with Zifa, but efforts to formalise the relationship have encountered sticking points particularly on remuneration and duration of the contract.
The four-time Castle Lager Premier Soccer League championship-winning coach and his representative Gibson Mahachi had a meeting with Zifa board member Edzai Kasinauyo on Sunday night, but the two parties failed to find common ground.
It is understood Zifa are willing to pay the coach a salary of $3 000, while Pasuwa is holding out for $7 000, which he believes is a fair amount for a national team coach.
But Zifa indicated that they had no money and would not be able to pay such an amount.
Pasuwa’s camp wants the local football mother body to make it official that they cannot afford Pasuwa on a full time basis.
“The position is that there has not been progress in our negotiations with Zifa over Pasuwa’s contract. They said they do not have the resources to pay him what he is asking for,” Mahachi said yesterday.
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“This is what we got from Kasinauyo, so I think as a way forward, they should just make an official position so that we can find the way forward. We could then say if they can’t afford his salary, then we can back down on the demands and they can also allow him to work on a part-time basis. That way the coach can also look for another job while also coaching the national team.”
Mahachi added that Pasuwa had worked for 13 months without being paid and he could not continue like that.
“This guy worked for 13 months without pay and he just can’t continue like that, it’s not possible. He has proven himself already, he deserves a contract.”
While Zifa cannot afford Pasuwa, they cannot afford to let him go following his popularity among fans, who believe in him after he led the team to a good start in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers in addition to leading the Under-23 team to the African Games qualifiers.
The Phillip Chiyangwa-led board will be hard-pressed to find a solution to their financial inadequacies or they would be forced to agree on Pasuwa taking the job on a part-time basis.
The duration of the contract has stubbornly remained a sticking point with Zifa more comfortable with an arrangement where the Afcon 2017 qualifiers will determine the coach’s future.
Pasuwa, on the other hand, believes he has done enough to deserve a deal with a minimum of two years.
Chiyangwa has sourced funds for Zifa after agreeing a $1 million deal with his business partner Wicknell Chivayo.
Chivayo’s sponsorship is, however, coming in dribs and drabs and with Zifa so deep in its financial quagmire the funds are proving inadequate.
Chiyangwa, however, has said he is currently negotiating with other potential sponsors that could help further improve the situation.
But to the new board’s credit, they have managed to restore some form of stability which has seen the Warriors camp going incident-free as had become the norm previously.
While the Warriors have had an intensive training camp, they have failed to get meaningful friendlies consequent to lack of financial resources.
They still cling on to the faint hope that they will be able to get at least one warm-up match.
But their problems have lessened with the team’s travel guaranteed after Chivayo promised to fund the team’s trips.
