Zimpapers Logo

Sports Reporter—
THE Indomitable Lions might be basking in the glow of their sensational 2017 Nations Cup triumph on Sunday, but across the continent, the fallout from a failed adventure in Gabon continues to claim a number of scalps amid a brutal post-mortem exercise. Ghana coach Avram Grant, whose team fell in the semi-finals, has become the latest gaffer to throw in the towel, following in the footsteps of Tunisia coach Henri Kasparzek and Algerian coach Georges Leekens who quit after their teams failed in their quest to become champions of Africa.

Zimbabwe coach Callisto Pasuwa also announced his resignation from his post, after the Warriors crashed out at the group stage, but his employers ZIFA initially said they were sticking with him before a committee tasked with reviewing the team’s performance in Gabon recommended that his contract should not be renewed.

ZIFA president Philip Chiyangwa announced on Sunday he remained guided by Pasuwa’s decision to throw in the towel, which he announced in Gabon, and was now just expecting the gaffer to tender his resignation letter.

Pasuwa handed in his report on Friday and said his men did not have the equipment, including the match balls that were used in Gabon, to help them prepare for their AFCON adventure.

He said of the 60 markers they requested, they got nothing from the association, from the 10 medium cones they requested, they got nothing from the association, from the 10 large cones they requested, they got nothing, from the two agility ladders they requested, they got nothing, from the 60 training bibs they requested, they got nothing, from the 30 tournament balls they requested, they only got 20 which came just two days before their departure.

“The only notable friendly match was the one we played against Cameroon in Yaounde. The game was an eye-opener to us as it gave us a feel of what we were going to encounter,” Pasuwa said in his report. “However, it came late as it was the final match before competition and we could not make adjustments to what we had done during our preparations at home.

“ . . . we opted to rest some of the key players for various reasons and also give others a chance to prove themselves.”

However, critics have questioned why Pasuwa and his coaching staff decided against using the services of Tendai Ndoro, as the team’s attacking spearhead, after he impressed by scoring in that match.

Others have accused the Warriors of being distracted by focusing on the financial rewards, including outrageous appearance fees of $5 000 per match, and winning bonuses of $6 000 per game, at a time when they were supposed to be focusing on doing well at the AFCON finals.

They say that it’s not a coincidence that the ring leaders of that campaign for the Warriors to get as much as possible from their Gabonese adventure were the ones who did not do well in Gabon.

Each of the players received $28 000 for their Gabonese adventure, while Pasuwa’s coaching staff took home a cool $42 000 with the head coach getting about $56 000. This means the Warriors were the highest-paid team among those that crashed at the group stages in Gabon.

Defending champions Cote d’Ivoire, who were also handed a $6 million kitty by their government for the Gabon campaign, crashed out without a win at the 2017 Nations Cup. In Uganda, the media has turned against the Uganda Cranes, who were fêted as heroes just a few weeks ago for ending the country’s 38-year wait for a place at the AFCON finals, after they crashed in the first round.

“The team’s failure to win any game in Gabon had as much to do with the strengths of their opponents as the indiscipline in the camp, Saturday Monitor has learnt,” The Saturday Monitor reported.

“Money, sex and downright arrogance were the things Ugandans watching the games did not see on the television screens, but were bubbling in the camp with at least six players engaging in a sex orgy after they reportedly smuggled one prostitute into the camp.

“The Cranes players had fought a good fight in the qualification round, breaking the jinx that had eluded the country for 40 years. The country looked forward to great football and a return to the cream table of football.

“Unfortunately, the boys were completely looking at a different ball game — of how to cash in quickly on the opportunity the qualification for AFCON had presented them.

“In a space of five months, from last September when the Cranes qualified after beating Comoros 1-0 at Namboole to-date, information available to Saturday Monitor shows that the Cranes core squad of 23 players has raked in $27 200 each.

“This is a compilation of monies the team was given both out of goodwill, match-winning bonuses from the federation, and/or demanded that they be paid before playing in the tournament in Gabon from which they were eliminated in group stages on January 22 after losing to Egypt.

“In Dubai, sources said, some of the players started exhibiting their true colours aware that the final list of Uganda footballers had been submitted to beat the Confederation of African Football deadline.

“The players made a list of demands that included, $1 000 each per day in training camp, $10 000 each as bonus for every win and $5 000 each for every match drawn in the tournament. “The team also sought $15 000 each as ‘appearance fee’ for reaching AFCON.

“The vocal advocates for these demands, sources named Yunus Ssentamu, Luwagga Kizito, Godfrey Walusimbi and Jamal Salim. Those who supported the decision, but were measured in their tone included Tony Mawejje, Hassan Wasswa and Joseph Ochaya.

“Caught off-guard by the demands, sources added that Fufa officials that had travelled with the team to Dubai started making frantic back and forth calls with officials back home. The newly-crowned Africa-based CAF Player of the Year Denis Onyango, was reportedly also a catalyst in the money crusade, but was very ‘cautious’ not to stick out his neck nor his teammates putting out their names with such outrageous demands.

“Onyango is said to have demanded that the currency of the discussion be kept in dollars, to which Magogo replied that the money he received from government was in Shillings. It was here in Dubai that the spirit for the tournament started dissipating. Sources said the team broke up into two camps, with the majority in support of the move and minority who had one option — to follow suite.

“The majority of the players at one time even rebelled against captain Geoffrey Massa whom they construed to be siding with the federation (FUFA). “It must be noted that late last year State House comptroller Lucy Nakyobe wired $10 000 directly to each of the players’ account which had been promised if Cranes qualified.”