WHY ENALA PHIRI WAS DROPPED AS COPPER QUEENS ASSISTANT COACH
At the 2024 COSAFA Women’s Championship, Copper Queens assistant coach Enala Phiri engaged in a public spat with then stand-in head coach Florence Mwila. The clash was so bad that Mwila has since refused to work with Enala.
When coach Nora Hauptle took firm charge of the team in February 2025, she wanted to appoint her own assistants not those assigned to her by the FA. Her due diligence help her establish which coaches would be worthy her plans.
The FA insisted that at least two local coaches should be part of the technical bench.
Then came Charles Halubono and Enala Phiri who were then deployed to the team. Both eyed the same job but fell behind her during interviews.
So, when Nora took over she knew exactly what she walked into. Nora has found it untenable to work with Enala partly because of her poor emotional intelligence.
In addition to emotional outbursts and superiority complex, Nora, although truant herself, believes Enala is divisive and may not be a good addition to promoting team spirit.
According to those close to Nora, Enala has been inciting some senior players to frustrate her work.
The defeat suffered against Botswana and South Africa were not seen as isolated based on her assessment.
Enala, who is believed to have some level of influence on some senior players, was fingered deploying underhand methods to frustrate Nora.
Generally, those who have worked with Enala say she is disrespectful to authority and often thrives on threatening other coaches or even her employers to an extent of undermining her collaborators.
Under coach Nora, Enala sees herself as the most qualified coach who should be in charge of the team, not otherwise.
Yesterday, Enala who enjoys some peculiar relationship with some individuals seen as close to the current FAZ leadership had an article published on social media using her blogger allies suggesting she was sidelined because she was too qualified than the head coach.
In essence, Nora believes Enala was not part of the Copper Queens technical bench to foster unity, but division.
In Nora’s view, going with Enala to the WAFCON 2025 had the potential to create a toxic environment on the technical bench and eventually in the team.
So, Nora made a decision and asked the FAZ secretariat through the office of the technical director to re-assign her as her services with the Copper Queens were not needed at the moment.
Enala recently signed a contract with Konkola Blades Queens FC after leaving ZISD FC midway through the season last year.
EDITOR’S NOTE: You may have better qualifications on the job, but a poor attitude undermining authority can be your undoing.