It has now
emerged that the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) has failed to pay the
national Under-17 and Under-20 women’s teams for their participation in last
month’s Cosafa and World Cup Qualifier tournaments, respectively.
The players are
still owed camping allowances, participation fees, and tournament bonuses.
The Young
Mighty Warriors represented Zimbabwe at the Cosafa U17 Girls Championship in
South Africa, where they exited in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, the Under-20
team was eliminated from the Fifa World Cup Qualifiers after a 2–1 aggregate
loss to Rwanda in Kigali.
Zifa’s failure
to honour its obligations — without any official communication — has left
players feeling dejected and betrayed.
“It is
frustrating that we spend weeks in camp, then go to the tournament, only to
return home empty-handed. Some of us have to support our families, while others
are schoolchildren hoping to use that money to clear school debts. It’s sad
when such things happen. Most people don’t understand what we go through and
end up labelling us as disorganised,” said one player, who requested anonymity.
Clubs are
equally disillusioned. They argue that Zifa has consistently failed to take
women’s football seriously, contributing to the decline of what was once a
regional powerhouse. Their frustration goes beyond unpaid allowances — it’s
about years of neglect and systemic disregard for the players’ talent and
commitment.
“We’re upset.
We’ve lost faith in the association, and maybe next time, it’s better for clubs
not to release players for national duty,” said one club representative. It’s
proving not to be financially beneficial for our players to represent the
country. The women’s game has suffered for a long time, and even the new
executive hasn’t brought real solutions.”
Zifa CEO Yvonne
Manwa promised to comment on the issue.
“I promise I
will respond . . . today is close to the election nomination and we have the
game in Morocco, so it’s a bit hectic,” she said. Herald
0 comments:
Post a Comment