Sports Minister, Makhosini Hlongwane, has apologized to Zimbabweans for the disappointing exit of the Warriors from the Gabon 2017 AFCON in the group stages.

Hlongwane made this known during a Parliamentary question and answer segment, adding that it was important to return to the drawing board to plan the future of Zimbabwean football.

He said: “In respect of the performance by the Warriors, as the Minister of Sport, on behalf of the sports sector, I would like to apologise for the performance shown in Gabon. I acknowledge that the whole country, to a larger extent , is in state of emotion of dead bodies due to the performance which was under expectation”.

The Warriors performance and consequent exit have been met with mixed reactions, with a section of people calling for the technical team to be dismissed, while others feel it was experience gained as the team played against far superior teams.

The Warriors managed to pick just a point in the 2-2 draw against Algeria before falling 2-0 and 4-2 to Senegal and Tunisia respectively.