T
HE 2023 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season is about three months away, but it has already been plunged into chaos triggered by a Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) announcement that coaches without requisite qualifications will no longer be allowed to preside over topflight teams.
Zifa wants to fully apply the club licensing rules, and one of the demands is for coaches to hold a Caf A coaching badge or its equivalent.
“It has all got to do with club licensing regulations. We have always prolonged doing things that should have been done a long time ago. It is about standardisation and this was not implemented. We have proper coaches. There are several coaches with the Caf ‘A’ licences and we cannot be going back,” Zifa president Gift Banda told NewsDay this week.
Over the years, Zifa has waivered this requirement for certain coaches, especially those that have won a Premier League title.
The demand for the qualifications leaves clubs like Simba Bhora in a fix with their coach, Arthur Tutani, being one of the coaches without the required papers.
Simba Bhora will have to find a new coach as they enter the topflight league after winning the Zifa Northern Division One league title.
Hwange have hired Bongani Mafu, who possesses the required qualification after gaining promotion with a different coach.
- Chicken Inn knockout Harare City
- FC Platinum 8 points clear as Chicken Inn falters again
- Panashe Mutasa comes of age at Tenax FC
- Dynamos back to winning ways
Keep Reading
Zifa has received a backlash from our readers, who this week amplified the point that the country is currently banned by Fifa and is not conducting the courses, hence should not impose unnecessary conditions in the running of the game.
While it is a noble idea for Zifa to modernise and follow international trends, as demanded by the Fifa club licensing regulations, it would be unfair for Zifa to demand a certificate of a course that it is not offering.
Some coaches like Thulani Sibanda of Bulawayo Chiefs have taken an extra initiative by crossing borders to undertake coaching courses, but not everyone can afford such an exercise.
Zifa needs to get readmitted into the Fifa family first and start offering these courses before it demands qualifications from coaches.
There are coaches in the Premier Soccer League such as Chicken Inn mentor Joey Antipas who have already been exempted from this requirement.
Antipas does not possess the required qualification, but he has been allowed to coach in the topflight on the grounds that he won a league title as a coach in the same league.
What about Tutani who won the Northern Region Division One League title, hasn’t he proved his worth?
It is unfair that he will now lose his job after guiding his team into the topflight over a qualification that he currently cannot obtain in the country.
We urge Zifa not to put the cart before the horse.
