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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

ZIFA have said that Warriors coach Zdravko Logarusic had to fly back to his native home in Croatia to attend to a family medical emergency.

Loga left Zimbabwe on Friday evening, much to the astonishment of the Zimbabwean football community, as the Warriors have important World Cup qualifiers coming up in the next few weeks.  

The association’s spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela yesterday said the coach had requested some days off.  

“The Warriors coach has requested to go back home to attend to a medical emergency in the family. He has asked for some days off and he was granted on compassionate grounds. But he will be back as soon as possible to continue with his duties,” said Gwesela.

Loga has been criticised previously for spending too much time in his home country. The coach travelled to Croatia soon after the completion of the AFCON qualifiers in March and only returned in June, after clocking 65 days away.  

The coach also spent close to three months holed up in his native between July and October last year since there was no football being played due to Covid-19.

Gwesela yesterday said there was nothing to fear as the coach is already working on his World Cup squad, which will be named in the coming weeks.

The Warriors are expected to host South Africa and Ethiopia early next month in the 2022 World Cup qualifying group games. They are in Group G, which also has West African giants, Ghana.

It is believed that Loga has already made his selection for the crunch opening matches and invitation letters have been sent to the various clubs.

Most of the foreign-based Warriors players have been involved in pre-season training with their clubs. 

The France-based duo of Marshall Munetsi and Tino Kadewere were included in the match day squads for the opening matches of the French Ligue 1 at the weekend.

Kadewere, who recently recovered from injury, was an unused substitute in Lyon’s 1-1 draw with Brest while Munetsi played for Stade de Reims yesterday at Nice.

Meanwhile, ZIFA yesterday joined the local football fraternity in mourning the death of CAPS United legend, Joe Mugabe. The former midfielder succumbed to stomach cancer in the United Kingdom.

“ZIFA have learnt with great sadness of the passing on of football legend Joe ‘Kode’ Mugabe. Mugabe was one of the finest football players to emerge in Zimbabwe,” said Gwesela in a statement.

“He represented CAPS United and the country with great distinction and tenacity. 

“It is beyond doubt that he contributed immensely to the development of football in the country.

“It is very painful that we continue to lose these football legends sat a time when we needed them the most to develop the beautiful game in Zimbabwe.

“ZIFA commiserates with the Mugabe family and the football fraternity as a whole during this painful period. 

“It is our player that the family will be comforted,” said Gwesela.