MLAUZI FREE TO REAPPLY: ZIFA
THE ZIFA Normalisation Committee says former Mighty Warriors coach Shadreck Mlauzi is free to reapply for the job.
The 44-year-old coach’s contract expired on December 31 at a time he was embroiled in court battles to clear his name after a female member of the technical team had reported him for indecent sexual assault during the COSAFA Women’s Championship late last year.
Mlauzi was last week acquitted of all charges after the courts found no credible evidence from the key witness to back the allegations.
ZIFA Normalisation Committee vice-chairperson, Cynthia Malaba, said the association was not in a hurry to appoint a coach for the women’s team as they were currently seized with the hunt for the men’s team coach to prepare the Warriors for the impending 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
She said when the time comes, they will also advertise for the Mighty Warriors’ coaching post and Mlauzi will not be disadvantaged by the recent events.
“His contract expired on December 31,” said Malaba. In terms of whether we will proceed with him, I cannot say yes or no because we are going to start the process again of getting a coach for the women.
“There was no urgency on our part to get the women’s coach because they don’t have fixtures coming now. At the moment, we are focusing on the men’s coach.
“But in due course, definitely we will look for a coach for the women. If he applies there is nothing that can hinder him because the coach has been absolved,” said Malaba.
ZIFA Normalisation Committee chairman Lincoln Mutasa said they were shocked by the allegations raised against Mlauzi as they had done thorough background checks before his appointment.
Mlauzi, a teacher by profession and a staunch Christian, has over 23 years working in women’s football. He also holds the record for being the only coach to lead a Zimbabwean football team to a global event after helping the Mighty Warriors qualify for the Olympics Games held in Brazil in 2016.
“Before Shadreck was appointed, that was a key issue that we deliberated on as an Normalisation Committee… Can’t we find any ladies that we can employ as coaches?
“And we were told that this guy has consistently given us results. He is the one who took us to the Olympics. Then we asked about issues to do with morality and things like that, and we were sure that this guy is above board.
“That’s why we stuck with him because we felt he had a CV which was worth considering. In fact, it came as a shock to us, what was now supposed to be happening in South Africa, but what didn’t shock us was the judgement that came from the courts.
“So, I think based on results he is a very good coach. The reason why he had been given ladies to work with was that we wanted ladies to learn from him. We wanted Mlauzi to have female assistants who will learn from him. Some of those coaches are more qualified than him, but have never produced a successful