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PETER DUBE

Mzingaye Sibanda Sports Reporter
ZIFA have issued an order that bars unlicensed coaches from the technical area in a move which almost saw Highlanders playing without their coaches against Shabanie Mine in the Castle Lager Premier League match on Sunday.
Zifa are acting swiftly to enforce the requirement that club coaches should be registered with the mother body in line with Caf licensing requirements.

The match on Sunday at Barbourfields Stadium was delayed by about 10 minutes as match commissioner Sabelo Maphosa stood firm with a letter from Zifa that barred Highlanders stand-in coach Mark Mathe, his assistants Peter Nkomo and Gift Lunga from the technical area.

It took the intervention of Zifa vice-president Omega Sibanda for the match to kick off.
The Highlanders executive claimed that they were told late about the requirements therefore did not have enough time to do it before the match.

“Yes we had an issue of licences that was going on, but I can’t say it delayed the match. It is now a requirement for the technical team to register with the national association.

“We did not know about it, until it was too late, so we were trying to liaise with them about our situation as this is one scenario where we have to deal with Zifa directly not through our PSL offices but anyway it’s not only us who were affected,” said Highlanders chairman Peter Dube.

Dube said they are working hard to make sure that affiliation fees are paid before their next game so that they don’t face the same scenario again.

“We are working on that. We want to register our coaches before the next game. I am sure it will be done,” said Dube.
Zifa spokesperson Xolisani Gwasela said the association will now take tough measures to enforce the licensing requirements.

“As per requirements, coaches without licences are not allowed to sit on the bench.  They have to pay to be registered first and also have coaching requirements as per our standards,” said Gwasela.

He said they are working hard to adhere to Caf rules, so they will not hesitate to sanction the clubs.
“Even the clubs have to register as well as part of our process. We don’t want a scenario where it’s like teams playing in rural fields.  So we will not hesitate to enforce the rules,” said Gwasela.