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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter

HIGHLANDERS are adamant that caretaker coach Joel Luphahla will bark instructions from the bench when they face ZPC Kariba in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Nyamhunga Stadium tomorrow despite him not possessing a Caf A coaching badge as required by the Fifa club licensing.

Under the Fifa club licensing policy which Zifa implemented, a coach without a Caf A coaching licence can’t sit on the team bench as head coach on match day.

Despite not clarifying whether or not they had secured a special waiver by Zifa to lead the dugout, Highlanders chief executive officer Ronald Moyo said their fans should not panic over the Luphaphla case, as “everything” is under control.

“He has always been on the bench and all is in order,” said Moyo.

Asked if Bosso had applied for a waiver, Moyo said: “Those are internal processes that we cannot discuss, but come Saturday Luphahla will be seated on the bench.

We want to take this opportunity to calm down the nerves of our fans and say everything is in order.

We think and we are confident that this is our last game that we will play without a substantive technical set-up.

We are thankful to the job that Luphahla is doing.”

He said the hunt for a substantive coach continues and they are spoiled for choice, as they have received about 20 CVs from local and foreign coaches.

“The coach’s position is still vacant.

We can tell you that we have seen a lot of coaches showing interest in taking that post.

We have received lots of CVs from some of our former coaches, who l won’t mention by name.

“We are still going through the internal process of hiring a coach.

When you have a lot of CVs, you need to do your homework to see that you get the best candidate for the job and that is where we are at the moment,” Moyo said.

On accusations that Bosso made a rush decision of firing Mandla Mpofu without a replacement at hand, Moyo said nothing was amiss with the route taken by the club.

“This is quite normal in football.

That is where the term interim coach comes from.

I think for me what would be abnormal will be to fire a coach with another coach already there; that would be a sign of dishonesty.

Fans and stakeholders should not panic.

The interim technical set-up will do the job.

We are confident that the next game, which will be against Harare City, there will be a substantive technical set-up,” he said.

Highlanders’ match against ZPC Kariba is set to kick-off at lunchtime. – @innocentskizoe