Zifa president, Philip Chiyangwa, is reluctant to push Warriors coach, Kalisto Pasuwa, out and instead is waiting on the under fire mentor to tender his resignation.
BY KEVIN MAPASURE/ HENRY MHARA
Pasuwa’s reign as the senior national team coach is effectively over after Chiyangwa endorsed the high performance committee’s (HPC) findings and recommendations on the technical team following the Warriors’ poor performance at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Gabon.
Speaking to NewsDaySport, Chiyangwa, who has previously appeared to back Pasuwa, yesterday sang a different tune insisting that Pasuwa had to step down and the association was moving on.
“I do not want to be burdened by firing people. Pasuwa should just do the honourable thing and hand in his resignation letter. I am waiting for his resignation letter. Coaches are hired to bring results and, as you have seen, coaches from other nations that failed (at Afcon) have since resigned, so he should just do the same,” he said.
Chiyangwa said he is ready to pay Pasuwa what they owe him.
“He should just resign then he sits down with the board member responsible for finance and we see what he has to get in terms of payment. Then we move on.”
Pasuwa, on the other hand, is seemingly reluctant to resign, probably because he stands to lose out on the final year of his contract.
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If he quits, he will not be compensated for the final year of his contract, whereas, if Zifa chose to fire him he can claim compensation.
The former Warriors midfielder is on a $7 000-a-month contract. If he is dismissed, Zifa would have to pay him $84 000 for what remains of his deal.
The HPC met on Friday in Harare, where they noted that the team’s failure was due to the technical team’s shortcomings, thus, the committee advised the Zifa executive committee against renewing Pasuwa’s contract.
The former Dynamos coach signed a two-year performance-based contract, whose first half elapsed on January 30, just days after the Warriors returned from the Afcon in Gabon, where they failed to go beyond the group stages.
A full inquiry into the team’s performance was undertaken at the HPC meeting, presided over by Zifa vice-president, Omega Sibanda, who was the team’s head of delegation in Gabon.
Other members of the committee include vice-chairman, Sunday Chidzambwa, Moses Chunga, Rahman Gumbo, Innocent Chogugudza, Masimba Chihowa and Zifa technical director, Taurai Mangwiro, who all attended the meeting.
Pasuwa, who is also the national Under-23 coach, presented his report for the one-year he has been in charge, to the meeting.
Pasuwa’s manager, Gibson Mahachi yesterday refused to comment on Chiyangwa’s request for his client to resign.
“I will not comment on that. They asked for his report, which he submitted (to the HPC). It’s up to them to decide based on that report,” he said.
Mahachi has previously said Pasuwa will not resign from his post, and will only leave if he is pushed out.
Mahachi believes that his client met the contract’s demands, whose key result area was to qualify the Warriors to the Afcon finals, which he did with a game to spare.
However, it was their performance at Afcon, that the HPC felt was below expectations, and are blaming it on Pasuwa. Zimbabwe had a commendable 2-2 draw against Algeria before losing 2-0 to Senegal and 4-2 to Tunisia to crash out of the prestigious tournament.
Pasuwa, according to sources, told the committee that shoddy preparations were the major contributor to the team’s poor performance, as well as the team’s inexperience at the grand stage.
This, of course, failed to convince the HPC, who also recommended reshuffling of all the national team’s technical benches, including the Mighty Warriors, the Under-20 and the Under-17.
“It’s over for everyone, even the women and other teams. We have to start afresh,” Chiyangwa said yesterday. “What is decided by the HPC goes. It is a group made up of experts and what they decide carries the day, otherwise there would be no point in having the committee.”
The Mighty Warriors are currently coached by Shadreck Mlauzi, who managed to qualify the team to the Olympics last year, the first time that a Zimbabwe’s team sport has made it to the games.
