Door open for Darikwa, Bonne Callisto Pasuwa
Callisto Pasuwa

Callisto Pasuwa

Petros Kausiyo: Deputy Sports Editor

WARRIORS coach Callisto Pasuwa has insisted the door remains open for the England-based pair of Tendai Darikwa and MaCauley Bonne to play for the senior team, but challenged the duo to secure Zimbabwean passports to be eligible for the 2017 African Cup of Nations finals.It has emerged the major stumbling block stopping defender Darikwa who plays for Premiership side Burnley and forward Bonne of League Two outfit Colchester is that none of them hold a Zimbabwean passport.

Darikwa and Bonne have been on the radar of the Warriors technical department since Pasuwa was appointed head coach, but the former Dynamos mentor has not been able to use them in any competitive match for varying reasons.

But the players’ bid to feature for the Warriors, including the international friendly against Tanzania at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday, appears to have hit a snag on the basis that they would need to sort their documents.

Warriors team manager Sharif Mussa revealed last night the coach had indicated he would have no qualms giving Darikwa and Bonne a run out in national colours once the pair’s status with the Registrar-General’s Office is ratified.

Mussa said he had also been in touch with the two players to discuss the matter and had advised them to try and travel to Harare to regularise their documents with the authorities at the Registrar-General’s Office.

It is a FIFA and CAF requirement that players representing their countries would have to produce their passports as proof of their citizenship for their respective nations. Darikwa and Bonne have also reportedly heightened their interest in playing for the Warriors since the senior team secured a place at the Nations Cup finals with a game to spare.

Mussa said the coaches were now using the friendly matches, including the one against Zambia which the Warriors won 1-0 via centre back Teenage Hadebe’s header, to assess more players before Pasuwa names the provisional squad for Gabon.

Mussa said the rule book on Darikwa and Bonne also applied to all Zimbabweans at home and in the Diaspora.

“As may be common knowledge by now, a lot has been said or written about two of our many foreign-based players — Tendai Darikwa and MaCauley Bonne — who are playing their football in England with Burnley and Colchester FC respectively.

“The Warriors technical department would like to once again put it on record that Darikwa and Bonne have always been welcome to the senior national team. “In fact the coach has always extended invitations for them to play for Zimbabwe even before the 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifiers started and both have previously offered their varying excuses which were mainly related to family and personal issues.

“As we prepare for the 2017 AFCON finals in Gabon, let me also make it clear on behalf of the Warriors technical department that the door remains open for any Zimbabwean to be considered for the national team.

“With reference to the status of the two players (Darikwa and Bonne) there has been interest by the technical department and like I said earlier that is why they have been called up before. There is still interest in them,’’ Mussa said.

He said the fact that Darikwa and Bonne had also indicated their willingness to play for Zimbabwe was a positive move that needed to be just matched by the regularisation of their documents.

“The players themselves have expressed interest since the team qualified for the African Cup of Nations and they have asked if they can still be considered and the coach said yes we can consider you and we will need to assess you and have you for some of the friendly matches.

“But the problem is that they have not regularised their papers in terms of having Zimbabwean passports which is a CAF and FIFA requirement and so I can safely say at the moment the ball is in their court to do so.

“The message has also been communicated to the individual players to get their papers in order and they can come for the national team duties and I am sure they are working on that now.

“I trust that this helps to clarify the Warriors position with regards to Tendai Darikwa and MaCauley Bonne and any other Zimbabwean player who might be in the Diaspora and is keen to play for any of the national teams, including the Young Warriors,’’ Mussa said.

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