THE senior national women’s football team returned to full training yesterday after a brief boycott on Tuesday ahead of the crucial second leg of the African Women’s Championships (ACW) final round qualifier in Zambia this Sunday.
HENRY MHARA SPORTS REPORTER
The players refused to train on Tuesday in protest over allowances and poor living conditions at the Zifa Village where they are camped.
A player source told sister paper NewsDay Sport that the players surrendered their training gear after the morning training session, threatening to abandon camp and return to their homes.
The source said the situation only returned to normalcy after a meeting between Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze and the association’s board member for development, Fungai Chihuri, held at the village on Tuesday evening.
“Things were deteriorating everyday and we couldn’t take it anymore,” a player said. “Can you imagine we haven’t been paid our allowances for the matches we played against Botswana in February and for the friendly match against South Africa last month?
“As if that was not enough, the living conditions are deteriorating. We are being given isitshwala/sadza with vegetables, cabbages and sometimes lacto. We are struggling to get basic sanitary things like a tissue, and to imagine that we are national team players, seriously?” the player quizzed rhetorically.
Zimbabwe are trailing the tie 0-1 and the winner of the Sunday match to be played at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka will qualify for the ACW finals in Namibia this October.
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The ACW finals is the women’s version of the men’s Africa Cup of Nations.
“We have a very important tie to prepare for, but we are not being treated well. We called off the strike on a promise that they will give us some money before the Zambia match and we are just hoping they will deliver this time around. As players we have done well for the country and we are ready to fight for the nation even in this match and we know we can overturn the scoreline, but I think we have been getting a raw deal in return,” another player said.
This is not the first time the Mighty Warriors have complained of terrible living camp conditions.
After the Botswana match, they had a sit-in at the Zifa Village demanding an improvement to their welfare.
Images of the players having sadza and a small portion of boiled matemba for their lunch were leaked to the media as the crisis that had gripped the team’s camp came to light.
Coach Rosemary Mugadza, who missed the first leg due to a family bereavement, refused to comment on the crisis that hit the camp this week, but chose to focus on the job at hand.
Yesterday, she named her final 18 travelling squad, and immediately declared that her team will “definitely” qualify for the ACW finals.
Regular and influential player Ruvimbo Mutyavaviri was the major exclusion from the travelling squad after she failed to recover from the injury she picked in the first leg.
The left-back only lasted just over 20 minutes in the match and the team’s medical team have said she will need at least eight weeks to fully recover.
“It’s very possible to qualify for the AWC finals, but we can only do that if we go there and play with the right attitude,” Mugadza said yesterday.
“The players are eager to participate and turn the tables. I have told the girls to play for Ruvimbo. She has been an integral part of this campaign and she would also want to play in the finals. We have to do it for her, for ourselves and for the nation at large and I know it’s very possible,” she added.
Mighty Warriors travelling squad: C Dzingirai, L Magwede, R Jongondi, N Majika, N Ndlovu, P Mujuru, M Musasa, T Mandaza, E Msipa, R Kamupfumvuti, B Kabwe, M Nyaumwe, R Neshamba, K Bhasopo, R Makore, M Chirandu, F Muzongondi, P Khumalo.
