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Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
WINNERS of the 2016 edition of the African Nations Championship (Chan) in Rwanda will walk away with a floating trophy and $750,000 in prizemoney, while all the 16 participating teams have a guaranteed $100,000.

In an emailed response to Chronicle Sport’s inquiry yesterday, Caf media manager Mohamed Thabet said the losing finalists will get $400,000 while the two semi-finalists will each get $250,000.

A total of $175,000 has been set aside for teams that will drop out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage. Teams that finish third in their groups will each get $125,000.

Meanwhile, the Warriors will depart for the tournament on January 10, six days before their opening Group D match against neighbours Zambia.

The 23-member squad, led by coach Callisto Pasuwa and his assistants Nation Dube and Saul Chaminuka, will have a stopover in Ethiopia before heading to Kigali.

Pasuwa will be hoping to lead the team to a better finish compared to the fourth place finish they achieved in Cape Town, South Africa, under Ian Gorowa in 2014.

“The boys will tentatively depart on January 10. It’s going to be a 23-man squad,” said the Zifa communications manager Xolisani Gwesela.

With Hwange’s Takabva Mawaya being sent home due to a shoulder injury, the Warriors’ think tank will now drop eight players from those already in camp.

If Zimbabwe progress to the quarter-finals as group winners, they will face the Group C runners-up. Group C has Tunisia, Nigeria, Niger and Guinea. A runners-up spot for the Warriors will see them set a date with Group C winners.

In the semis, Zimbabwe’s opponents will come from either Group A or Group B. Group A is made up of Gabon, Cote D’Ivoire, Morocco and hosts Rwanda, while Group B has the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Cameroon and Ethiopia.

The Warriors’ training camp received a morale booster on Monday when Zifa president Phillip Chiyangwa visited their training camp and assured the team that Zifa will pull out all the stops to ensure the team concentrates on its core business of playing.

Chiyangwa said winning the Chan tournament will go some way in atoning for the disappointment suffered by Zimbabweans when the Warriors were kicked out of the 2018 Fifa World Cup set for Russia due to failure to settle what Zifa owed former coach Valinhos.

Another ban loomed due to another debt owed to Belgian Tom Sainfiet, who briefly took charge of the Warriors before he was deported by immigration authorities. That ban has, however, since been averted by the Chiyangwa executive committee that has already started extinguishing the debt.

Chan 2016 prizemoney:

Winner: $750,000

Finalist: $400,000

Losing Semi-finalists: $250,000

Losing Quarter-finalist: $175,000

Third in group: $125,000

Fourth in group: $100,000