ZIFA hates former players – Mucherahowa

Thursday Jul 22, 2021. 15:00

Former Warriors international Memory Mucherahowa has called for a complete overhaul of football in Zimbabwe, claiming that the country’s FA (ZIFA) has only hatred for former players.

Zimbabwe secured qualification for a third successive Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament, but their recent form under current coach Zdravko Logarusic has been concerning, with just one win from their last 12 matches – including an early exit from the COSAFA Cup in South Africa earlier this month.

According to Mucherahowa, Zimbabwe’s football administration shuts former players out of the system and success will not be sustainable until this policy changes.

“The current system hates former footballers,” he is quoted by The Herald. “Just look at the people who interviewed the current national team coach for that job. How many former footballers were there?

“A system that chooses to ignore people like Ephraim Chawanda or Peter Ndlovu and trust people, who never played football, to make footballing decisions is a joke.

“I am not surprised that Loga is struggling to get positive results. Just look at the coach’s history, it’s not his fault that we are struggling. The problem lies with those who gave him the job.

“How do you expect to get a bumper harvest when you planted nothing? No football person would have employed Loga based on his track record.”

ZIFA chiefs are more concerned with politics rather than looking to progress the game in Zimbabwe, according to Mucherahowa.

“A person like Moses Chunga, Peter Ndlovu, Chamu Musanhu, Alexander Maseko, just to name a few, would have never allowed that to happen,” he explained.

“The hatred of former players is just appalling. Once they retire, they are not needed anywhere near ZIFA House.

“Look at Peter Ndlovu, did anyone even think of doing a testimonial match to honour him for his service?

“Do these guys at ZIFA even know where Chawanda is? Obviously not, because they do not care.”

He adds that appointing assistant coaches to the Warriors who already have attachments to professional clubs creates an obvious conflict of interest.

“How can you employ people who are attached to certain teams as assistant coaches? It does not work because their clubs will always come first when it comes to priorities.

“I can give you an example of Dynamos head coach Tonderai Ndiraya. A Dynamos loss will give him more headaches than national team one because that is his full-time job.

“When does he get the time to watch Hwange games or even FC Platinum’s games when he is preoccupied with his own team unless when they are playing against Dynamos?

“In the end they end up picking players from their respective clubs because they are the ones whose fitness they are aware of, and also to keep players from their clubs fit. This results in good players not being selected.

“There are many coaches in Zimbabwe who are unattached, and these are the people who should be getting these jobs.

“Loga has not been in the country for quite some time and had to rely on people whose loyalty is first and foremost with their clubs. That’s not good for the country at all.”