BY HENRY MHARA FORMER Warriors captain Norman Mapeza has been given a fresh mandate to take charge of the senior men’s national team at the Africa Cup of Nations Finals (Afcon) in Cameroon next month.
Zifa acting chief executive officer Xolisani Gwesela yesterday said his organisation got “guidance” from the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) to appoint Mapeza, who will be given the latitude to choose his backroom staff.
“We got guidance from the SRC that Mapeza will continue as the Warriors coach for the Afcon finals, we had sought guidance on the matter. He will be allowed to choose his own assistants,” Gwesela told NewsDay Sport.
The appointment is, however, illegal as neither the SRC nor the Zifa secretariat can appoint a national team coach.
Only the Zifa executive committee has the prerogative to appoint a national team coach.
Mapeza presided over the team on an interim basis and his contract expires on New Year’s eve.
The suspended Zifa board had earmarked Mapeza to continue in his role and the SRC, which is in control, chose to stick with the popular option.
Mapeza, however, faces a tough task as key players have withdrawn their services citing various reasons.
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Star midfielder Marshall Munetsi was the first to be ruled out of the tournament last week after he aggravated an injury on his first match on return from a long lay-off.
The Stade de Reims player made a winning return from a long injury setback when he took part in his team’s 2-1 win over Tino Kadewere’s Lyon last week, but it came at a huge cost for him.
He has been ruled out for about two months, which rules him out of the Afcon finals which kick off in Cameroon on January 9.
National teams general manager Wellington Mupandare yesterday told NewsDay Sport that Tendayi Darikwa and Brendan Galloway were also out of the Warriors squad.
He said they had planned to start camp on Wednesday next week, but that is highly unlikely now with the COVID-19 pandemic which has seen the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League suspending most local matches.
Darikwa, who last played for the Warriors in a World Cup qualifier away to Ghana on October 9 before missing the team’s three subsequent qualifiers due to family reasons, has once again asked to be excused for the Afcon tournament.
The rightback, who plays for League One club Wigan Athletic in England, was part of the squad that featured at the 2019 Egypt tournament, where he started in all the team’s three group stage matches.
Galloway, who plays for Plymouth Argyle, picked a horrific injury in his team’s match against Wycombe last week.
The 25-year-old former Everton player had surgery on Wednesday after dislocating his kneecap.
His coach Ryan Lowe, who has offered the leftback a new 18-month contract as he recovers from the serious injury, confirmed that he would miss the rest of the season, including the Warriors Afcon finals.
Galloway was out of contract in January, having joined the English third-tier club on a short-term deal in July.
“He’s had his patella tendon restructured,” Lowe told BBC Sport.
“I don’t really know the timescale, but if my math is right, it could be six to eight months potentially. He definitely won’t kick another ball this season, but he’s in good spirits. The operation went well.”
The three were part of the Warriors’ provisional 40-man squad that was submitted to the Confederation of African Football (Caf) last week.
Zimbabwe is in Group B, where they are drawn alongside Senegal, Malawi and Guinea.
The Warriors will open their Afcon finals campaign on January 10 against the Lions of Teranga.
But the team’s preparations ahead of the tournament remain in limbo as the war between the suspended Zifa board and the SRC rages on.
Fifa has been informed about the SRC versus Zifa board tiff, and is yet to give a determination.
- Follow Henry on Twitter @henrymhara
