Zimbabwe’s chances of making their first ever FIFA World Cup appearance in Russia during the 2018 showpiece event have been dealt a death blow, as the Warriors have been expelled from taking part in the competition’s qualification campaign.

The southern African country has been handed this heavy penalty due to the fact that the FA had not paid former coach Jose Claudinei Georgini, also known as Valinhos, when he was in charge of the national team during 2008.

The actual amount that the Zimbabwean football authorities owed their former coach is unknown, but FIFA says that it had demanded that payment be made on more than one occasion, culminating in this expulsion.

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.”

FIFA further explained their position and gave insight into the fact that ZIFA did not appeal any of the previous rulings from their disciplinary arm.

“ZIFA was informed that the expulsion would be ordered automatically without any further decision needed from the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and, once more, ZIFA did not appeal the decision,” the statement added.

“Given ZIFA’s failure to make any payment within the granted periods and the request presented by the creditor, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee – in line with its second decision – ordered the expulsion of ZIFA from the preliminary competition of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.”

Zimbabwe will therefore not be taking part in the African qualification campaign for Russia 2018, with initial fixtures set for October this year following a draw in July.