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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Soccer Coaches Association (Zisca) Bulawayo province has spoken out against player abuse by some coaches.

The Zisca Bulawayo statement comes in the wake of Dynamos legend Stanley Chirambadare’s court appearance last week facing charges of sodomising boys from his academy.

Chirambadare, who runs Revival Football Academy, is facing charges of abusive sexual behaviour.

“As Zisca, we have a constitution and rules and regulations governing the behaviour of all football coaches. If the allegations levelled against coach Chirambadare are proved to be true, as an association we totally distance ourselves from such behaviour,” said Zisca in a statement.

“Our role as coaches is to identify, nurture and develop talent of boys and girls, not to abuse them. We also educate our fellow members on how they should protect and develop players from early childhood. We pray that these allegations are false because we are in the process of reviving Zisca in all 10 provinces. The objective is to develop football and mentor players to be professionals and earn a living through soccer and also teaching them to be responsible citizens without abusing them.

“Such behaviour tarnishes the image of soccer and brings our organisation into disrepute. We encourage all coaches to lead by example since they are not just teachers of football, but also parents and vanguards of orphans and the vulnerable in our communities.”

Chirambadare played for Dynamos as a left-back in the 1980s and 1990s.