Story by Raynald Ngwarati
THE ZIFA Normalisation Committee (NC) have proved to be masters of confusion after turning the Warriors into a laughing stock following the release of a third COSAFA squad this Sunday.
The country’s football seems to be heading towards collapse due to mal-administration of the ZIFA NC which has normalised chaos in the running of the most loved game in Zimbabwe.
At a time when the Premier Soccer League had announced that the league was not going to break to pave way for the tournament which is not on the FIFA calendar, the nation woke up to a shocker as the coach Jairos Tapera appointed five players from his club Manica Diamonds and four from his assistant, Takesure Chiragwi’s Ngezi Platinum side, a move which had the potential to affect the league.
However, after backlash from the media and football fans, the squad saw some revision with the likes of Manica Diamonds goalkeeper Geoffrey Chitsumba and Ngezi’s Nelson Chadya being replaced by Highlanders goalkeeper Raphael Pitisi and Manica Diamond’s Joseph Kaunda who is yet to taste action this season.
Dynamos’ Emmanuel Jalai and CAPS United’s defender Godknows Murwira have also been drafted into the revised team with Highlanders’ McKinon Mushore also part of the ring of changes.
While the new look squad shows careful consideration, the decisions at the now Milton Park housed ZIFA NC have left the country wondering on the direction the country’s football is taking with a culmination of confusion and chaos evident from the ZIFA NC administration.
The abnormal NC has made changes to the Warriors squad for a shocking third time yet for just the same tournament.
To further add to the confusion, the interim Warriors coach Jairos Tapera on Monday distanced himself from COSAFA squad selection, noting that he is yet to announce his squad for the tournament.
Speaking to journalists Tapera said, “I have seen more than 10 teams that have been strided into the media, with different names with this, that Tapera has appointed this, but I am telling you, my team which I am going to announce is the one I am going with to South Africa, I haven’t announced my squad yet, you will see it either today or tomorrow when we get in camp.”
The question remains, who is selecting the squad if the head coach is unaware of the selected players, and there is concern on whether the coaching staff and the ZIFA NC are in one accord.
The NC whose mandate to take the state of football back to normalcy continues to deviate from their purpose as they have instead administered the sport like a kindergarten class.
Confusion has proved to be the order of the day since the NC took the reign as they have been changing coaches at regular intervals with 3 coaches taking charge of the past six Warriors matches.
It is on record that ZIFA has often written letters during committee meetings and on most instances reversed and revised their letters on the following day showing how directionless their governance is which has resulted in the Warriors slumping to their worst ranking in nine years according to the latest FIFA rankings.
