The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
VETERAN coach, Sunday Chidzambwa will recuse himself from the Zifa High Performance Committee (HPC) following his appointment as Warriors interim coach for the Cosafa Senior Men Championship.
Zifa vice-president, Omega Sibanda, who is also the HPC chairman, said Chidzambwa will stand aside while he is with the Warriors. He said Moses Chunga, who was named Under-17 national team coach on Friday, will also be temporarily stepping down the HPC.
“They cannot take on both roles because it would be contradictory hence they will recuse themselves while they are still acting. They can only permanently leave the HPC if they are confirmed as national team coaches,” said Sibanda. He justified the appointments saying they were on merit. Sibanda said looking at the current pool of available coaches with the requisite qualifications; those named to the positions were the right people to take up the jobs.
“All appointments are made on merit and after we sat down and looked at those who qualify we realised they (coaches) have the requisite experience to take up the posts. The appointment of a different coach to take on the Cosafa Cup assignment is not something new as it has happened before. Remember this competition falls outside the Fifa calendar and in some instances the dates clashed with those of Afcon matches meaning there had to be another coach in charge,” he said.
Sources at Zifa revealed FC Platinum expressed concern the continued absence of their head coach, Norman Mapeza, who is in charge of the Warriors’ Afcon campaign, saying it might dent their title challenge. Sibanda said they have great belief in local coaches and will continue to show faith in their abilities by assigning them to national team roles.
Other members of the HPC are Innocent Chogugudza, Rahman Gumbo and Masimba Chihowa whose role is to assess the performance and offer advice on the appointment of national team coaches. The HPC also assist with technical advice to national teams.
