The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) has officially issued an apology to the people of the southern African nation, following their expulsion from 2018 World Cup qualifiers by football governing body FIFA over unpaid coach issues.

The Warriors have been given this heavy penalty due to the fact that the FA has not paid former coach Jose Claudinei Georgini, also known as Valinhos, for his services at the helm of the national team in 2008.

FIFA says that it had demanded that payment be made on more than one occasion, culminating in this expulsion, when calls for the situation to be rectified were constantly ignored.

A FIFA statement revealed, “The expulsion comes as a result of the non-payment of an outstanding debt by ZIFA (the Zimbabwe Football Federation) to the coach Jose Claudinei Georgini.”

The leadership of ZIFA has commented on the expulsion, expressing their remorse to the fans of the Warriors, who will not be able to experience their team attempting to qualify for the showpiece event, unless FIFA decide to overturn their expulsion.

“It is with a heavy heart that we apologize to the nation for the sad development which we are currently seized with managing,” said ZIFA chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze in a press statement addressing the people of Zimbabwe.

“In our appeal to Fifa, we indicated that we are keen to service Georgini’s debt and other all our debts but liquidity issues still limit our abilities to do as such at the rate the debtors might expect,” he added.

“To the nation and the whole football family, all we ask for is support and patience as we still believe that unity is the only asset which can take us out of the current hiccup and to the next level,” Mashingaidze concluded.

Zimbabwe have never qualified for the World Cup, and they will need to wait until Qatar 2022 for their next opportunity.