SEVERAL Premier Soccer League (PSL) coaches could be left jobless this season amid reports that the new Zifa executive committee has become stricter in enforcing the club licensing system after resolving at its meeting last week that coaches and their assistants would not be allowed to sit on the bench without the mandatory Confederation of African Football (Caf) A coaching badge.
BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
Although this requirement has been in place for the past few seasons it has, in some cases been waived for some coaches who have excelled like Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas.
Antipas does not hold a Caf A coaching badge, but he has been allowed to sit on the bench because he won the championship with both Motor Action and Chicken Inn.
Former Harare City coach Moses Chunga also coached in the PSL without the mandatory Caf A badge, having also won the championship with Gunners in 2009.
Some assistant coaches without the requisite qualifications have also been allowed to sit on the bench.
Zifa spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela said it would no longer be business as usual this time around and that even those coaches who used to get special treatment would be affected if they failed to comply ahead of the start of the new season.
“The new executive committee is very serious about club licensing. It is taking club licensing a notch higher. In the last executive committee meeting, it was resolved that coaching standards in PSL should not be down-graded by allowing non-holders of Caf A qualifications to coach in the PSL. Hence, as an enforcement of club licensing standards and ultimately development of our game, all coaches in the PSL and their assistants should be in possession of Caf A licence. The executive felt that it was imperative to respect coaches’ education. The technical director, Wilson Mutekede, is currently in Egypt for a technical development workshop and the workshop will deal with the curriculum for Caf coaching licence, which is our expectation that Caf coaching courses will resume soon,” he said.
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The decision by the new Zifa executive committee could see some coaches, including Dynamos assistant coach Murape Murape, Caps United assistant coach Tostao Kwashi and several others being affected by the new requirement if they do not take part in the courses that are set to be rolled out this year.
Mkhupali Masuku, who was the head of the technical team at Harare City, is one of the coaches that lost their jobs due to the requirement.
The PSL season, which had originally been expected to roll out in August in line with the international calendar, is set to kick off in March as per tradition after the game’s stakeholders voted against the realignment of the calendar.
