Zimbabwe have been expelled from the 2018 World Cup qualifying competition for failing to pay a former coach, FIFA said yesterday.

“The expulsion comes as a result of the non-payment of an outstanding debt by the Zimbabwe Football Federation to the coach Jose Claudinei Georgini,” FIFA said. Georgini coached Zimbabwe in 2008.

ZIFA had failed to pay the outstanding amount despite twice being ordered to do so by FIFA’s disciplinary committee, FIFA said.

On the second occasion, ZIFA were told they would be expelled from the World Cup qualifiers without further warning if they did not settle up.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.