The crisis at the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) has gone far beyond comprehension. It has been allowed to grow into some never-ending story resembling a soap opera.
The saga involving Zifa president Cuthbert Dube has degenerated into child’s play.
Although such battles involving Leo Mugabe, Morrison Sifelani and Chris Sibanda have happened in the past, the current scenario at the football motherbody is a joke. Never since our admission into international football in 1980 have we had such a comedy. Our football field has become more of a battleground than an entertaining soccer pitch, where Dube and his chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze are busy fighting the Zifa council at the expense of our football.
Justice would demand that the majority prevail, but unfortunately, the solution to this drama does not lie with the majority or football fans, but with Fifa who seem to be supporting Dube.
What is disturbing is that Fifa has always been interested in the manner the African game is run, while European countries have been left to run their football on their own.
Why, after 111 years, should Fifa still be insisting on imposing leaders on the African game? What exactly is the Fifa leadership benefitting from this supposedly political game of African football chess? Is there something we have not been able to see?
The truth is that the crisis in Zimbabwean football can only be resolved by the local football fraternity. Fifa should respect the decisions of the Zimbabwean football family and let Zimbabweans choose their own football leaders.
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Fifa has to be reminded that people do sometimes make choices and realise later that they made the wrong choice.
This is Zimbabwean football and only its decisions will see it move forward.
Zifa is still required to pay Brazilian coach Valinhos by next week or risk being kicked out of the 2018 World Cup. We should have been concentrating on how we should pay the Brazilian than engaging in these leadership battles.
At the moment, no one seems to have a clue on where this money will come from.
This is the time for Dube or those who want to be at the helm of our football to prove that they are “real” leaders.
Of Pasuwa and the Warriors
Kalisto Pasuwa was never my favourite to take over as national soccer coach, but I must admit that the former Dynamos gaffer has impressed me in the manner in which he has handled both the Young Warriors and the Warriors.
Under Pasuwa, Zimbabwe are on the right path, and with time, coupled with an enabling environment, Zimbabwe soccer could be on its way back to the old days when the Warriors were ranked among the best in Africa.
We hear that Zifa High Performance Committee wants Pasuwa to use the Young Warriors in his 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers where he will face Malawi, Guinea and Swaziland.
Pasuwa has to be warned that should he follow that route and succeed, the so-called High Performance Committee will claim credit. But should he fail, they will be the first to point fingers as they did with Ian Gorowa.
What really surprises me about this High Performance Committee is that they are the ones who recommended the appointment of Pasuwa, but they want to tell him who to choose in his team.
Zimbabweans do not want a repeat of the situation where the national team coach was appointed when the national team had already been selected by other people.
This would mean the coach giving orders to some players who would not fit in his style of play and the results would be there for everyone to see.
I am a layman in as far as football coaching is concerned and it cannot be disputed that we still need the likes of Khama Billiart, Knowledge Musona and to a lesser extent Willard Katsande in the lineup as Pasuwa has proposed.
The coach is responsible for the performance of his team and as such, should be allowed to execute his duties without undue interference.
The High Performance Committee should stick to their mandate and not meddle in the affairs of national team selection. For Pasuwa and team we say “So far so good”.
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