WARRIORS coach Ian Gorowa has raised concern over the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) midweek fixtures after the top-flight league remained adamant the matches will go ahead as scheduled.
HENRY MHARA SPORTS REPORTER
Gorowa said he wanted all the Warriors players in camp this evening to start preparations ahead of the rescheduled African Nations Championships (Chan) match against Zambia on Sunday.
But the PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele said Gorowa should release the players to allow league games to be played as any further postponement of the games would completely cripple the remaining league programme.
Already, the BancABC semi-finals scheduled for the weekend are at risk because of the Warriors-Zambia match. Ndebele’s office yesterday sent out communication to all football stakeholders confirming the midweek games will be on.
Four matches have been scheduled for tomorrow while the other four have been set for Thursday.
However, Gorowa thinks releasing the players from camp for league games was not “viable”. “Zifa and the PSL are still negotiating and I haven’t heard what they have agreed on. But that (releasing players) is not viable in a real world. What if we release them and some, the crucial ones, get injured?” Gorowa quirried yesterday.
“It’s a bit complex for both sides because the PSL is not in a good situation at the moment. “They cannot continue to postpone the games. I will stand guided by my bosses at Zifa,” Gorowa added.
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Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze and Ndebele were said to be locked in a meeting yesterday as they looked for a solution to break the deadlock.
But Ndebele had on Sunday insisted that matches would go on with or without Zifa’s blessings. “The midweek fixtures will go on as planned. This (postponement of the Warriors match) is not our problem. We did our part, but this situation is beyond us now.
We cannot go for six weeks without league matches because that will put the whole league programme in jeopardy. They will have to release the players for the period of the matches and go back after playing for their clubs.”
Zifa communications manager Xolisani Gwesela yesterday said all players called for the national team should report for camp today. “All the players are expected to report for camp tomorrow night (tonight) and training will start on Wednesday morning (tomorrow morning),” Gwesela said.
Dynamos and Highlanders each provide four players to the national team. Fifa stipulates that a club can choose to forfeit a fixture if it has three or more players called up for national duty.
Dynamos have Patson Jaure, Augustine Mbara, Tawanda Muparati and Devon Chafa while Bosso have Masimba Mambare, Milton Ncube, Peter “Rio” Moyo and goalkeeper Munyaradzi Diya.
Caps have Tafadzwa Dube, Dominic Chungwa and Hardlife Zvirekwi while FC Platinum have also three players called up in Ali Sadiki, Nelson Maziwisa and Charles Sibanda.
PSL midweek fixtures: Tomorrow: Monomotapa v Hwange (Rufaro), FC Platinum v Caps United (Mandava), Tripple B v Harare City (Dulibadzimu), Chicken Inn v How Mine (Barbourfields). Thursday: Shabanie Mine v Buffaloes (Maglas), Dynamos v Motor Action (Rufaro), Triangle United v Black Rhinos (Gibbo), Black Mambas v Highlanders (Morris Depot).
