Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Cain Mathema has refuted reports that the government has ignored the Warriors request for Zimbabweans passports to be issued to a number of footballers born and bred in Europe.
Responding to a caller on ZBC radio’s Classic 263 who had asked why the government was not assisting the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) as it did in the case of former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, Mathema said:
Bruce was born in Bulawayo, he was not a foreigner. In any case, if the Warriors want people, how come they have not written to the Registrar General’s office or to the secretary (permanent secretary) or even to my office explaining what it is that they are talking about?
There is a significant number of European-based players born outside Zimbabwe eligible to play for the Zimbabwe national team. These include Tivonge Rushesha from Swansea City’s developmental side, and Jordan Zemura, who is in the books of Bournemouth’s Under-21 outfit.
There is also Stockport City’s Douglas Nyaupembe, Adam Chicksen of Bolton Wanderers, Cliff Moyo, Charlton Athletic’s Macauley Bonne and Jonah Fabisch, who plays for Hamburger SV in Germany.