Harare – The Zimbabwe national football team coach Kalisto Pasuwa will not tender his resignation as requested by the Zimbabwe Football Association's (Zifa) after the Warriors spectacularly exited the the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.
Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa told the media that he was waiting on Pasuwa to "do the honourable thing" and tender his resignation following the Warriors' poor performance that saw them fail to progress beyond the group stages.
But Pasuwa, who still has a year left on his contract, has argued that the target set in his contract was for him to qualify the Warriors for the Afcon finals, which he achieved.
The national football coach's manager Gibson Mahachi said: “The coach is not going to resign, he still has a year left on his contract and he achieved what was asked of him in the current deal".
He added: “If Zifa want to hire a new coach, it is within their rights to expel him. They started a process which they have to see through.” The High Performance Committee (HPC), an arm of Zifa which oversees the national teams’ performances, interviewed Pasuwa on Friday, after which they recommended that he be dismissed. Chiyangwa said the football association was already looking beyond Pasuwa, but wanted the coach to walk away, rather than firing him. On Sunday, he told the media he did “not want to be burdened by firing people”.
“Pasuwa should just do the honourable thing and hand in his resignation letter. I am waiting for his resignation letter. He should just resign ... and we see what he has to get in terms of payment,” Chiyangwa said.
If Zifa dismiss Pasuwa, the association would have to buy him out of his contract, paying him US$84 000. The former Zimbabwe midfielder earns US$7 000 a month.