HomeOld_PostsThe ball is in ZIFA councillors’ court

The ball is in ZIFA councillors’ court

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ALL eyes will be on the 58 Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) councillors on Saturday, December 5, as they vote for the people who will be running the country’s supreme soccer body for the next four years.
After the poll, at 53 Livingstone Avenue will be a new ZIFA president, his vice and seven board members.
The new team assumes office against the background of a ZIFA that has been reduced to ruins both administratively and financially.
So the task of this new team is straightforward – bring ZIFA back to life.
What is not that simple, however, is the identification of the people of the ideal calibre to carry out this task.
That is where the councillors come in.
However, the soccer fraternity has misgivings about the way councillors voted in 2014 when recently ousted ZIFA boss Cuthbert Dube was re-elected overwhelmingly.
Soccer lovers had been disenchanted with the way the Dube-led ZIFA carried out its mandate in the previous four years.
The Warriors were steadily declining, losing to soccer midgets like Tanzania in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
The international soccer calendar was no longer being observed as Zimbabweans remained idle while other soccer playing nations were busy strengthening their teams.
Team preparations were always chaotic whenever we had the opportunity to pit the Warriors against other national teams.
A begging bowl was the order of the day whenever our national teams were required to travel.
To make matters worse, Dube’s ZIFA got entangled in what was referred to as ‘Asiagate’.
This turned out to be seen as a money-raising venture in which the lives of a number of footballers were ruined by the mother body’s botched attempt to punish alleged participants in match-fixing.
To crown it all, this was also at the time Dube was caught up in what was called the ‘Salarygate’ scandal, where it was exposed that the then ZIFA boss was vulgarly unfairly earning US$500 000 a month from PSMAS, an organisation bleeding with debts.
When the councillors retained him under these circumstances, the popular belief was that they had been bribed.
Many still believe so and are not convinced that these councillors are capable of an independent verdict in their choice of candidates. The latest election gives them a chance to vindicate themselves.
We expect the councillors to base their choices purely on football matters.
With the four candidates for the presidency, we have Phillip Chiyangwa and Trevor Carelse Juul who have the monies, Leslie Gwindi with the academic brains and James Takavada with the physical experience of the game.
With a week to go before the polls we implore the councillors to do their homework and have a clear picture of these four candidates vis-a-vis their knowledge of the game.
Elementary knowledge about their background is not enough.
For we need something more than money, academic brains or even physical experience of the game.
We want a team that the councillors are genuinely convinced will resurrect our football from grassroots based on merit.
We want a team that will breathe a new lease of life even to little talked about games like Beach Soccer or Five-A-Side.
We don’t want a ZIFA boss who will try to rescue the game by dipping into his own pockets.
Cuthbert Dube tried and today ZIFA have a debt in the region of US$6 million
A well organised ZIFA should be able to inspire confidence from the private sector and Government.
A well run ZIFA should be able to see the stadiums fill up again in support of both local fixtures and international matches with spectators who are happy to part with their money.
Remember the days of the Dream Team?
All this is possible and even more come December 5.
The ball is in the councillors’ court.

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