Zimbabwe national soccer team, the Warriors, demonstrated at the Harare International Conference Centre Friday to demand they receive unpaid fees by refusing to come out of their hotel rooms prompting Zifa president Phillip Chiyangwa to threaten the entire team with a locally assembled one.
23 members of the football team, vowed not to come down from their hotel rooms to attend the send off event ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament because of money issues, the Sunday mail reported.
Zifa president Phillip Chiyangwa and his deputy Omega Sibanda tried to save themselves from an embarrassing situation but their efforts were futile.
The pair pleaded with the players to make an appearance to show respect to the guest of honour before coming back to settle matters with Zifa.
The players refused to budge. After exhausting his notoriously thin diplomatic skills, Chiyangwa reportedly lost his cool and threatened to call up “a new team made of players who are ready to represent the country”.
“Chiyangwa said he will call Issa Hayatou, the Caf president, and request that Zimbabwe registers a new team and that did not help matters. That made things worse,” said a source who watched the drama unfold.
Amid the boiling tempers, striker Mathew Rusike touched his own personal low as he said to have told Sibanda to “f**k off”.
In the eyes of Zifa, and perhaps many people now, Rusike is a spoilt and uncultured brat. But to his teammates the lad is a trooper.
As the drama unfolded on the hotel side of the complex, jazz musician Bob Nyabinde attempted to lift the spirits of the mix of invited guests, journalists and gatecrashers.
Acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa was invited to the event as the guest of honour
