THE national Under-20 team was subjected to near inhuman conditions in which they did not even have toilet and allowances at the Cosafa Under-20 Challenge Cup held in December in Maseru, Lesotho.
ALBERT MARUFU sports correspondent
This was disclosed yesterday by a source who travelled with the team on assignment. The players, who also played with an inferior kit, are yet to be paid their allowances more than two months after the tournament.
Just like the senior team at the African Nations Championships in South Africa, the Young Warriors finished fourth at the tournament.
Upon their return from Lesotho, the Young Warriors held on to the kit they used, vowing to give it to Zifa only after their allowances were paid.
According to sources, Zifa vice-president Ndumiso Gumede addressed the team in Lesotho and told them point blank that they should focus on their development and not monetary gains. Gumede referred sister paper Standardsport to Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze.
“I was in Lesotho on Cosafa business, so talk to Mashingaidze,” Gumede said.
Former Zifa Southern Region Division One acting chairman Morgan Dube, who was the head of delegation of the team, confirmed the situation got out of control as players wanted to boycott the third and fourth place play-off match against Angola.
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Dube added that he had to fork out money from his pocket to pay hospital bills for midfielder Praise Tonha when he was seriously injured in the opening game against Swaziland.
“The injury was very serious and upon arrival at the hospital, the doctors advised us that we had to pay approximately $30 and I had to pay from my pocket. I also had to pay almost $400 because the team did not have enough kit which we had to buy,” he said.
