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Petros Kausiyo Harare Bureau
BROKE and leaderless Zifa have sent an SOS to the government seeking $120,000 to fund the Warriors’ final African Nations Champions qualifier assignments against Lesotho and the Mighty Warriors’ Olympic Games showdown with Cameroon next week.

Zifa want $35,000 each for the two home assignments involving the Warriors and the Mighty Warriors and $50,000 for the senior men’s trip to Maseru.

The Warriors, seeking a record fourth Chan finals appearance, will host Lesotho at Barbourfields on October 18 before travelling to Maseru for the reverse fixture the following week.

On the same day that the Warriors will be at home to Lesotho in Bulawayo, the women’s side, the Mighty Warriors, will be entertaining Cameroon at Rufaro seeking to overturn a 2-1 first leg deficit and secure a maiden appearance in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Mighty Warriors have already grouped in Harare for their return leg against Cameroon with their coach Shadreck Mlauzi having decided against breaking camp on their return from Yaoundé on Monday and instead opted to have a bloated squad that was enlarged to 34.

The Warriors, who have had to endure the frustration of having to sit out the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers this weekend following Zimbabwe’s expulsion by Fifa, are expected to come together after the Match Day 25 Premiership fixtures over the weekend.

Unlike in the World Cup qualifiers, the Chan tournament is a competition for homegrown talent with only those players playing in their national leagues eligible to compete.

It, however, emerged yesterday that cash-strapped Zifa have submitted a $120,000 budget to government through the Sports and Recreation Commission to service the three key assignments, which could see the two senior nationals teams qualifying for their respective tournaments.

Zifa are without a president and a board after the association’s assembly revoked the mandate of Cuthbert Dube and his executive following an extraordinary general meeting at Prince Edward School last Saturday.

Dube, who was just 18 months into a second four-year term, had resigned on the eve of the assembly meeting last Friday night, but had sought to stay on until December when elections for a new leader are held with the Harare business executive ostensibly delaying his departure to facilitate a handover of power.

But the councillors demanded that his resignation be with immediate effect and they then voted 51-3 in favour of a motion to have the association’s president and his board leave office on the same day.

Chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze has in terms of the constitution been tasked with running the Zifa affairs until a new leader and a new board are elected into office on December 5.

Mashingaidze yesterday revealed that he had been making shuttle trips to the SRC and Ministry of Sports and Recreation offices with a begging bowl to try and secure government support to fund the three international assignments. The Zifa chief executive said they had not been getting much joy from the corporate world and had resolved to turn to the government for salvation.

Mashingaidze also said Zifa could not afford to let the Warriors and Mighty Warriors’ chances of qualifying for the Chan and the Olympics Games slip “for failure to fulfil the fixtures.

“As we have often done before, we submitted our budget to government through the SRC and I’ve been making follow-up meetings to that effect. We also want to thank the government for the intervention they came up with for the Mighty Warriors’ trip to Cameroon

“In fact, I should say discussions are currently taking place between government, SRC and Zifa in terms of funding the three assignments that we have this October and when the boys get into camp next week, they should be far away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life in order to stay focused.

“The cost structures of what we are seeking from government will cover accommodation for the visiting teams, accommodation and flights for the match officials and importantly the incentives for our players.

“For the return leg in Maseru the following weekend, we are saying there is need for return air tickets to Lesotho and incentives for the players,’’ Mashingaidze said.

He said it was also important that Callisto Pasuwa and his men were motivated for the decisive legs in which victory will see the former Dynamos coach and his side become the fourth class of Warriors to qualify for the Chan finals in as many editions of the competition.

Sunday “Mhofu’’ Chidzambwa guided the Warriors during the inaugural tournament in Cote d’Ivoire in 2009, which was on an invitational basis, before Madinda Ndlovu took charge of the side that went to Sudan two years later.

Ian “Dibango’’ Gorowa then took the Warriors to another level in the tournament when he guided them to a fourth place finish at the 2014 tournament in Cape Town, South Africa. Pasuwa, who was Gorowa’s assistant in Cape Town, is now on the verge of becoming the fourth coach to take the Warriors to the Chan “promised land”, but that is if resources are made available to avoid chaotic preparations.

“The Warriors are 180 minutes away from the Chan finals and Zimbabwe has never missed the tournament, therefore the assignment against Lesotho is a must win. We want to keep our record intact as a nation,’’ Mashingaidze said. The Mighty Warriors also received Mashingaidze’s backing to overcome Cameroon at Rufaro and make their bow at the Olympic Games.

“The girls showed a lot of character when losing 2-1 in Cameroon and we want them to grind a result at Rufaro.

“Just a few months ago, our Young Warriors beat Cameroon in the African Games qualifier and we want the Mighty Warriors to do the same. The Mighty Warriors’ technical team have been beefing their playing material and we are saying just like the Warriors, they need motivation in terms of incentives. We also believe that with a vociferous crowd, they can get the result they want and with all the necessary support from the entire nation, these two teams can achieve their goals and we also urge the people of Bulawayo to fill Barbourfields as we also dedicate that match to the late Warriors’ legend Willard Mashinkila Khumalo’’.

Such is the confidence in the two teams that Mashingaidze said Zifa were already bracing for longer preparatory camps for the actual tournaments.