THE woes that have haunted women’s football in this country reached another level with the Mighty Warriors boycotting the second leg of the second round Olympic qualifiers at the National Sports Stadium.
The match was expected to kick-off at 3pm but the Zimbabwe senior women’s side didn’t show up for duty.
According to Zifa communication and competitions manager, Xolisani Gwesela, some of the clubs withdrew their players from camp on Saturday at the Zifa Village and this made it impossible for them to proceed with the match.
“Around 10pm yesterday (Saturday) we were notified by the team manager that Blue Swallows, Correctional Queens and Black Rhinos football administrators had taken away players from camp totalling to 12,’’ said Gwesela.
“Then, today, (in the) morning Herentals also took their players from camp.
So, we communicated with Fifa about our position, we requested Fifa to allow us to change the players, Fifa accepted that we can change the players.
By the time the teams arrived at the stadium the new players had not reported for camp.
So, we then wrote to Fifa seeking postponement of the match but Fifa have written back to us to say can you consult with Zambian Football Association so that they accept that, then the match can be postponed, that’s where we stand.’’
While Gwesela said there were no reasons communicated to Zifa on why the clubs withdrew their players, there have been indications that action was provoked by pleas from the players.
The players have been complaining that they have not been receiving their allowances, appearance fees and bonuses from the association.
They claim the stand-off with the Zifa leaders goes back to the time when they took part in the Cosafa tournament where the Mighty Warriors finished third.
The Mighty Warriors were expected to get $2 400 each for their participation at the regional tournament where they settled for bronze.
Zifa has also come up with a vastly-reduced payment schedule for national teams while the association also raised the red flag on Saturday when it announced one of its former employees had obtained a court order to freeze their bank account.
“I cannot comment on rumours, unfortunately, but what I can confirm is that we have a contractual obligation between us and players and not between Zifa and clubs.
Clubs are members of Zifa, so I cannot comment on issues where reasons were not proffered when withdrawing these players from camp.
Unfortunately, the clubs that took players from camp did not proffer any reasons for withdrawing players from camp.
But, in terms of regulations governing the release and status of players, once a player is released into camp, it’s prohibited, it’s not allowed for you to withdraw a player from camp especially when the game is on the international calendar,” said Gwesela.
