Government funds Warriors trip

The Herald
20th February 2009
Harare Bureau

THE Warriors’ trip to the inaugural African Nations Championship finals — which had hung in the balance for the better part of yesterday — was finally confirmed last night after the Government committed itself to bankroll the cost of the team’s flight to Cote d’Ivoire.

Sunday Chidzambwa and his men are now scheduled to leave Harare this morning at 7.15am to Johannesburg where they will connect a direct flight to the Ivorian commercial capital Abidjan later this afternoon.

But the issue of daily allowances for the travelling party and appearance fees for the players and their technical team remained unresolved last night forcing the Zifa board to go into an emergency meeting to try and find a solution.

The meeting followed a report made to the association by team captain Gilbert Banda late last night that some of his troops would choose rather not to travel to Cote d’Ivoire if there was no assurance that they would get their allowances and appearance fees.

The Minister of Education, Sport, Art and Culture David Coltart advised the Warriors, at a farewell ceremony in the capital last night, that the Government had only secured funds for them to fly to Cote D’Ivoire.

He said his attempts to secure funds to cover the team’s allowances and appearance fees had failed because the Government was also battling other urgent challenges which needed funding.
Coltart said it was important for the Warriors to understand the challenges facing the economy and, if teachers could be paid an allowance of US$100 a month, the national team players also needed to put their projected earnings into context during this difficult phase.

He said the fact that the funding for the airfares was only secured very late was a reflection of the challenges facing the Government and he urged the Warriors to go and play for the cause of their motherland rather than immediate financial rewards.

Coltart and his team at the Ministry spent the better part of yesterday trying to secure the funding for the team’s airfares, allowances and appearance fees.

When he came to give his address at the farewell ceremony at about 6.30pm last night, the funding for the trip had not yet been secured.

Then, after a number of phone calls, he revealed that they had managed to secure the funds for the airfares but nothing for the allowances and appearance fees.

“At the 11th hour, the Minister of Finance (Tendai Biti) has advised me that he has secured the US$36 000 that is needed for the airfares for the team to travel tomorrow (today). “That is the good news.“Obviously it’s important that we be represented at the tournament. It’s a matter of pride that we have our national team there.“But it’s a difficult period and there are other challenges and we should understand that we have been battling to raise funds to pay the teachers and we also have to pay the examination markers.“So we find ourselves in a situation where on one hand we want funds to send the national team and then on the other end the same funds are needed to pay the examination markers for the O’ Levels.”

Coltart challenged the Warriors to appreciate the challenging environment but, even without adequate funding, to go and produce their best in Cote d’Ivoire.

“Obviously the decision to release the money for the airfares has put our budget under a lot of strain because there are a lot of other challenges.

“There is an extreme shortage of money in our national coffers but I have always insisted that it’s a matter of pride that the team goes and participate at the tournament.

“The players are our flag bearers, our ambassadors and we always want them to go out there and represent the nation and that is why we have been moving heaven and earth to try and get the money.

“I wish the team the best of luck and hopefully they will lift the nation’s spirits by doing very well. “We simply have to resolve as a nation that this (last-minute search for funding) will not happen again and we have to plan well in advance.”

The Warriors would have faced a possible ban, from the next two editions of the Nations Cup finals (2002 and 2004) if the team had pulled out of the final competition.

And, Coltart said, that would have been disastrous.

“It’s unthinkable that the our nation should not contest the next two tournaments. This is a great nation and we have tremendous men and women who can compete at the highest level.
“Our goal should be that we rebuild our entire nation, not just the health sector or the education sector but also the sporting sector.Some of the players (in the Warriors) are young enough to play at the 2014 World Cup finals.”

The minister said when he met Zifa chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya and Sports Commission director-general Charles Nhemachena on Wednesday, he did not give them the commitment that the budget of US$138 000 would be wholly funded.

“What I told them was that I understood their plight and I would go to the Ministry of Finance and try, as best as I could, to secure the funds.I told them that I would give 110 percent effort.”

The US$138 000 was meant to cover the cost of the team’s airfares, the players’ allowances and appearance fees, the officials’ allowances and expenses related to their medical requirements.

The cost of their accommodation, transport and food in Cote d’Ivoire — during the duration of the tournament — will be met by the host country.

The original budget submitted by Zifa to the Sports Commission last month to cover the cost of the national team’s participation at the tournament was for US$394 000.

But after a series of meetings on Wednesday, the budget was first slashed to US$174 000 before it was further reduced to the final figure of US$138 000.

“Rushwaya said they submitted their budget on January 8 this year and the Sports Commission forwarded it to the relevant authorities five days later.

“Our budget was done early and we took it to the Sports Commission and the directorgeneral acted on it very quickly and, as per protocol, forwarded it to the relevant authorities in Government.

“Somewhere along the line, the document was not given the attention that it needed and this is what has resulted in us now having to be in this desperate situation.So suddenly we found ourselves in a crisis.”

If the US$138 000 budget had been funded the players’ daily out-of-pocket allowances — for the duration of their stay in Cote d’Ivoire — would have been US$50 per individual.

The Warriors are in Group B and have been pitted against Ghana’s Black Stars, the Democratic Republic of Congo and dark horses Libya.

Chidzambwa’s men are considered the lightweights of the group — especially given that the majority of the players who could have made a difference have dropped from the team since the start of the year.

Midfield anchorman Justice Majabvi became ineligible when he joined an Austrian club while striker Edward Sadomba followed suit by joining a Mozambican side last week.Clemence Matawu — the leading Zimbabwean goalscorer in the competition with three goals — was also left out of the 23 man squad as he is in Poland hunting for a new club. Method Mwanjali and Evans Chikwaikwai — winner of the Golden Boot and Soccer Star of the Year award — are also in Poland.The CHAN tournament is restricted to players plying their trade in their home leagues.