 |
WARRIORS coach Kalisto Pasuwa has gone for five months without pay amid reports Zifa benefactor Wicknell Chivayo’s coffers have dried up.
The Harare businessman, who has interests in energy and transport, offered to take care of the coach’s salary for two years, but he is now failing to honour the obligation with reports suggesting business has been low for him and his workers have also been affected.
The Warriors coach is on a $7 000 per month contract with Zifa, but NewsDay Sport has learnt that Pasuwa has not received his pay for the past five months, raising fears over his future with the national team.
With the Warriors also preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon)finals, in two months’ time, the non-payment of Pasuwa’s salary could affect the arrangements.
“He has not been paid for the past five months. Things have not been good for him even though he is soldiering on. You wonder whether they are trying to frustrate him,” an informed source said this week.
Pasuwa’s manager Gibson Mahachi could not be reached for comment yesterday.
In April, Chivayo threatened to withdraw his sponsorship of the national team coach’s salary following a barrage of attacks in the media over his failure to pay Pasuwa on time.
The businessman later announced he would continue to pay the coach and support Zifa financially as per his initial promise. Chivayo paid Pasuwa the outstanding $21 000 in cash at the time. However, he has not been paying the coach in the past five months. When contacted for comment yesterday, Chivayo promised to return the call, but had not done so by the time of going to print.
Chivayo has been offering assistance to the Warriors, but he has failed to make good on most of his pledges.
In June, Chivayo promised the Warriors a $250 000 bonus for qualifying for the 2017 Afcon finals in Gabon for the first time in a decade after they defeated the Flames of Malawi 3-0 to earn a ticket to the biennial soccer showcase.
However, the businessman is yet to honour his promise. Instead, he hand-picked a few individuals, particularly foreign-based players, and paid them varying amounts between $10 000 and $1 500.
Chivayo also undertook to give the Warriors mobile phone handsets valued at around $1 000 each, but again only a few foreign-based players benefited.
He also vowed to buy Warriors captain Willard Katsande a new vehicle, but it is also yet to be delivered.
The locally-based stars, among them Danny Phiri, Hardlife Zvirekwi, Elisha Muroiwa, goalkeepers Tatenda Mukuruva and Bernard Donovan, are yet to benefit from Chivayo’s largesse.
Recently, the businessman also promised to buy a car for WBC international welterweight silver champion Charles Manyuchi and assured him he would give him money to build a house on a residential stand which he got from Zifa president Phillip Chiyangwa. But those promises are yet to be fulfilled.
During the Warriors’ last trip to Guinea for the 2017 Afcon qualifier on September 3, Chivayo gave the 25 players and officials who travelled to Guinea $5 000 to share.
The Warriors, who had already qualified for the continental soccer showpiece, lost that match 1-0.
Chivayo holds several contracts with the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), but the company has tightened screws on payments.
ZETDC paid Chivayo millions last year, but NewsDay Sport understands he is yet to complete the projects.
Source: Newsday
No comments:
Post a Comment