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Xolisani Gwesela

Raymond Jaravaza, Sports Correspondent
CONFUSION reigns over the withdrawal of Harare City from the Caf Confederation Cup amid revelations that the club is still to notify Zifa on the decision to pull out of the continental competition.

Harare City initially confirmed with Zifa, through an official letter, of their intention to play in the competition and the national football mother body in turn notified Caf.

The Sunshine Boys even beat the Caf 30 November deadline by confirming through Zifa that they would be playing in the continental tournament.

But a week later, Harare City’s fortunes took a new turn when they were demoted from the Premiership, and the club executive made a seemingly ill-advised decision to pull out of the tournament.

Zifa on the other hand insist Harare City are yet to write an official letter advising them of the decision to withdraw.

“Harare City have not written to inform us of their decision to pull out of the Confederation  Cup. Zifa does not operate on hearsay or from information based on media reports. We operate on official communication and in that regard we have not received a letter from the club to that effect,” said Zifa communications and competitions manager Xolisani Gwesela.

But club secretary general Matthew Marara yesterday insisted that the club had sent a letter through the Premier Soccer League and the mother body would eventually get it.

“We followed due procedure by writing a letter to Zifa and sent it through the PSL,” he said, reiterating that the club made a decision to pull out of the Confederation Cup after their demise from the Premier Soccer League.

“It’s impractical for us to play in the Confederations Cup when our team is now in Division One. We have started approaching our senior players individually to map the way forward and find out who wants to leave the club and who wishes to stay.

“We have a team in Division One (the Zifa Northern Region) so our focus now is development,” he said.

Harare City are likely to lose seasoned players such as Farai Madhananga, Martin Vengesai, William Manondo and Jimmy Tigere.— @RaymondJaravaza