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Robson Sharuko in CAIRO, Egypt
WHEN Acting Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Minister Kazembe Kazembe arrived at the Meridian Hotel here on Thursday, his mission was very clear.

Join the Warriors for lunch, chat with them during the course of the meal, deliver the message from home that everyone was behind their cause and challenge them not to be intimidated by the Pharaohs.

In about an hour, or so, he thought, it would be over and he would retreat to his hotel on the other side of town, while the boys would start preparing for their final training session.

But, about six hours later, he was still at the Warriors hotel and what had been scheduled to be a routine exchange with the team had degenerated into something else.

Unbeknown to Kazembe, he had just stepped into a minefield of raging emotions, exploding anger and unrest among a group of Warriors unhappy with how this AFCON adventure had been planned.

Unhappy that the money they had been told of by their head of delegation, ZIFA board member Bryton Malandule, had not reflected in their bank accounts on Tuesday as promised.

Unhappy that the contract they had entered with the association would not, as they claimed, be fulfilled ahead of the very first game of this AFCON adventure.

Concerned that, if that was the case that on the eve of their first game nothing was reflecting in their bank accounts, what guarantees were there that what they had signed for in subsequent matches would be delivered.

Worried that, despite all the assurances they had received from their employers at ZIFA, this appeared to be another adventure that would be crippled by broken promises and shattered expectations.

Disappointed, in their words, that they were hearing the association had invested into a trip by a group of ZIFA councillors, on an all-expenses-paid-for trip here when their welfare, which should have been the primary concern, had not been dealt with.

Kazembe didn’t know any of these grievances when he arrived, but when he finally met the players late on Thursday night, all that drama unfolded right in his eyes.

The rebellion by the players was so intense that they told him, and the three ZIFA officials — Malandule, Farai Jere and Sugar Chagonda — that they would not fulfil their match against Egypt until their financial demands had been met.

That meant the payment of a US$5 000 appearance fee into their bank accounts and a further US$4 000 to take care of other expenses, including daily allowances and backpay for their COSAFA adventure, before they could commit to play against the Pharaohs last night.

The ZIFA officials said they had paid that amount, on Wednesday, when the signed players’ contracts finally arrived at their offices in Harare and were not sure why the amounts were not reflecting in the bank accounts of the players.

But, that payment had been for the appearance fees for all the three group games, where ZIFA had guaranteed they would pay each of the players US$1 500, while the other US$3 500 would be sourced from fundraising activities which were being carried out by the Government.

Now, given that ugly stand-off, a formula was done to move all that which ZIFA claimed to have paid into the players’ accounts, whose payment schedules were even shown to the minister, into footing the bill for the players’ demands for the first game against Egypt last night.

Why the money was not yet reflecting in the players’ accounts remained a divisive point and the ice was only broken when Jere assured the players he would try to move mountains, with their bank officials, to ensure all the funds would be reflecting in the players’ bank accounts by 9am yesterday.

The challenge, though, was that ZIFA would have to try and secure a further US$11 000, per player, for the next game against Uganda and another US$5 000, for each Warrior, for the final game against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kazembe was straightforward in his address — the fundraising committee he heads had not committed to paying the US$3 500 per player per game during this AFCON finals — which the contracts the players signed with their employers, clearly spelt out.

But, he acknowledged, as the highest ranking Government official dealing with the crisis, he had to try and find a solution so that the players would feature in the match last night and their standoff with their employers would not negatively affect the good name of the country they were representing.

Now, and again, during his address, Kazembe kept receiving wild applause from the players, happy that even though some of the things he was telling them were painful to hear, like that financial resources on hand were not enough to service what was in their contracts, at least, they were being told the truth.

Kazembe pleaded with the players to fulfil last night’s match, telling them he believed if they did well against the Pharaohs, their heroics would generate a lot of goodwill back home.

He expected there would be a stampede of Good Samaritans ready to reward them financially.

After, a meeting or more than three hours, where the Warriors spoke candidly, their employers battled with the tide to find a solution and the minister played a huge part to bridge the gap between the two parties, Warriors captain Knowledge Musona then rose from his seat to deliver his address.

He said they had heard both sides of the story from the officials and, after consultation with his fellow players, they had agreed to fulfil last night’s match on condition the first batch of their payments of about US$9 000 reflected in their accounts yesterday.

The money finally reflected in the players’ respective bank accounts yesterday morning.

The players then asked for commitment from the authorities that they would not be victimised, which they got from both the ZIFA officials and Kazembe, before the meeting was called off.

As everyone left the meeting room, after a day of high drama and confusion, the big question remained – how much would this impasse take away from these Warriors and deflect their attention from last night’s opening match against the Pharaohs?

Something just didn’t feel right.

And, about two hours later, the CAF first vice president, Amaju Pinnnick, the Nigerian football supremo who is also the chairman of the CAF AFCON committee, came to the hotel to address Musona and his vice captain Ovidy Karuru, in the company of ZIFA officials, where he also appealed to the team to fulfil the game because, not doing so, would plunge the whole AFCON into chaos.

Kazembe was still shaking his head as he left the Warriors hotel.