Eyes Warriors post:

ZIFA finally ended the uncertainty that had seemed to cloud Callisto Pasuwa’s tenure as Warriors coach when the soccer mother body revealed they would be officially terminating the gaffer’s contract at the end of this month.

A lot of drama had characterised Pasuwa’s last days as Warriors coach, with his manager Gibson Mahachi demanding that ZIFA must write to his client stating their position.

ZIFA, through acting chief executive Joseph Mamutse, yesterday wrote to Pasuwa advising him that his contract was being terminated with effect from February 28.

Mamutse also indicated in his letter that the coach’s contract was being terminated based on the recommendations of the ZIFA High Performance Committee which met with the former Dynamos mentor last Friday to review the Warriors 2017 African Cup of Nations and the senior team’s showing in the first of his two-year contract.

The Herald exclusively revealed last week that the High Performance Committee had recommended that the coach’s contract should be terminated. It also emerged that effectively Pasuwa’s one-year deal was subject to renewal for another year, depending on how ZIFA viewed his performance and subject to negotiations between the two parties.

“The Zimbabwe Football Association would like to advise that after examining the High Per- formance Committee review report, we hereby advise that ZIFA will terminate the contract with effect from the 28th of February, 2017 when the contract expires and would expect you to comply with necessary requirements as well as Section 5.2 of the contract.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the services you rendered during the period as national team coach,” reads a copy of the letter from Mamutse.

Although Pasuwa had met the initial target that had been spelt out in his contract after leading the Warriors to the Nations Cup in Gabon, ZIFA had also reviewed the team’s performance at the tournament and held the coach accountable for their poor results in which they managed just one point after finishing bottom of Group B that also included heavyweights Algeria, Senegal and Tunisia.

The HPC felt the coach came short on his team selection and reckoned that the Nations Cup had exposed his tactical shortcomings.

ZIFA vice president and HPC chairman Omega Sibanda maintained that his committee was not targeting individuals adding that Pasuwa had naturally come under the spotlight as he was in charge of the country’s flagship football team.

“People are making a mistake that we were looking at Pasuwa and the Warriors, but that is not the case. We looked at football in general.

“We reviewed all competitions from the Under-17s to the senior teams for both the men and women teams at the end of the 2016 cycle which coincidentally finished with the AFCON tournament.

“Pasuwa was just part of the bigger element that was being reviewed. It is the duty of the HPC to review the performance of all our national teams and also to look at why some of our junior teams did not participate in the competitions they were supposed to take part and then make recommendations on how we should move forward to improve our game.

“It is also important to note that the HPC will never fire nor hire a coach. We just make recommendations and the executive and the president chooses what they want to do with the findings.

“So we did what we have been mandated to do and again we will have another review in 2019 because we have another cycle of competitions

coming up this year for both the men’s and women’s teams,” said Sibanda.

A closer look at the contract which Pasuwa entered into with ZIFA shows that the only recourse which the coach now has is outstanding salaries and perks up to February 28 and this includes $20 000 qualification bonus for guiding the Warriors to the Nations Cup and the $15 000 contract fees he ought to have been paid when he put pen to paper last year.

The contract, which Pasuwa signed with ZIFA on February 1, 2016 states that although the agreement was for a two-year period, the initial one year would be terminated on February 28 with the remaining year being re-negotiated by the parties after a performance review.

This was captured in Article 2:1 of the contract which states that:

“This contract shall be for a duration of up to two years, but shall have an initial period of one year and shall be subject to renewal for an equivalent period in writing upon review of perfor- mance under this contract and subject to further negotiations by the parties.

“The effective date of commencement of this contract is 1 February, 2016 and the date of termination shall be February 28, 2017.’’

ZIFA president Philip Chiyangwa has repeatedly said Chivayo is his sponsor and not a sponsor for the Association.

In his termination letter, Mamutse also cited Clause 5 of the contract which deals with Pasuwa’s remuneration and the conditions attached to it.

Article 5.1 of the agreement reads: “The employee shall be paid a signing on fee of $15 000 to be paid within three months of the signing of the contract. Further the employee should be paid a gross salary of seven thousand ($7 000) subject to the statutory deductions of PAYE, NSSA and AIDS levy. This excludes winning bonuses and camping allowances.

“The salary shall be reviewed at the end of the first year of the contract in terms Clause 2:1 above’’.

ZIFA, making reference to Article 5:2 of the contract, also insisted yesterday that Pasuwa would need to surrender the vehicle that he was using as national coach despite Harare businessman Wicknell Chivayo having argued that he had bought the car for the coach in his personal capacity.

Chivayo told The Herald on Tuesday that he had purchased the vehicle as a gesture for the commitment and patriotism to national duty, which Pasuwa had shown.

Article 5:2 of the contract states that: “The employer shall avail a motor vehicle for use by the employee for the duration of this contract. The employee shall be responsible for keeping the motor vehicle in a good con-

dition and the employer shall be responsible for the maintenance of the vehicle.

“The employer shall not be liable to damages on the motor vehicle arising out of the employee’s negligent, reckless and or driving without due care or attention.

“The employee shall not give the motor vehicle to a third party or drive the motor vehicle outside Zimbabwe without the written permission of the employer.

“The motor vehicle shall be returned to the employer if the contract is not renewed,’’ reads the contract.

ZIFA also agreed to pay Pasuwa $10 000 each for qualification to the CHAN and COSAFA tournaments while the coach is entitled to $20 000 for having guided the Warriors to the Nations Cup.

“The employee shall be entitled to the following bonuses;

◆ In the amount of $10 000 for qualifying to participate in the COSAFA Senior men challenge and the CHAN tournament

◆ In the amount of $20 000 for qualifying for the 2017 African Cup of Nations’’.