THE government says it is working hard to mobilise funds to pay the history-making Warriors their outstanding daily allowances and appearance fees. TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
The Warriors wrote a glorious page for Zimbabwean football when they reached the semi-finals of the African Nations Championships in South Africa — the first time for them to manage that feat in a competition of this magnitude.
They were eliminated by Libya following a 5-4 defeat on penalties.
That achievement has not gone unnoticed with Harare businessman Nobert Chiwira — the director of Lighmart Transport and Boreholes acknowledging their success by donating a Toyota Nadia vehicle for Warriors coach Ian Gorowa during a welcome reception for the team yesterday.
Sport, Arts and Culture deputy minister Tabetha Kanengoni-Malinga paid tribute to the gallant Warriors during the reception also attended by Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze, Zifa board member marketing Nigel Munyati and Zimbabwe Football Trust chair Tshinga Dube and pledged to ensure the Warriors were paid their outstanding allowances and appearance fees.
“On behalf of the government of Zimbabwe, it is my pleasure to warmly welcome back the Warriors who were in South Africa for the Chan tournament which ended over the weekend. I am aware that before the team left for South Africa, we disbursed $88 000 in support of the team’s logistical requirements,” said Kanengoni-Malinga.
“We are still engaging the corporate world to see if we can get more resources to ensure that the outstanding daily allowances and appearance fees are paid. My ministry is aware of the outstanding bonuses which we are informed Zifa will make good from the tournament prize money. As government we will ensure Zifa honours its commitment to you,” said Kanengoni-Malinga.
“When the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture honourable Andrew Langa hosted you for a send-off lunch before departure to South Africa we were quite confident that you were going to make it.
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“You managed not only to outperform your opponents up to the quarter-final stage, but your predecessors in the national team by advancing to the highest level in a continental championship.
“The performance by the Warriors was just the tonic to raise the nation’s spirits and reaffirm our competitiveness in football. It is against this background that I would like to salute the technical department of the Warriors for a job well done,” she said.
The Warriors were making a third appearance at the continental tournament having taken part in the last two editions in Ivory Coast in 2009 when the tournament was inaugurated before making it to Sudan two years later.
But in those two attempts they failed to progress beyond the group stages.
