A section of Zimbabwean football followers went into celebration soon after the Zimbabwe Football Association elections — rejoicing the ouster of Phillip Chiyangwa from the helm of Zifa.
Inside Sport with MICHAEL KARIATI
The celebrations were expected as there is always excitement whenever there is change, but Zimbabwe football followers should not get too excited until there are results associated with that change.
There have been many football leaders who came in amid pomp and fanfare only to fail to deliver where it mattered most. On that standing, new Zifa boss Felton Kamambo must justify the faith placed in him by the Zifa Council or else he will find himself on his way out before his term expires.
Cuthbert Dube is an example of one of those leaders who came into football amid high hopes and expectations, but failed to deliver and was asked to leave long before his second term expired.
Kamambo should by all accounts also strive to avoid forcing the football family to reflect on the past and say, but “Chiyangwa was better” like what is happening on the political front.
Granted, the Chiyangwa reign was not all milk and honey, but there were a lot of positive things that came along with it which Kamambo should build on.
Every national football federation leader — the world over — is judged by the performance of national teams and on that premise Chiyangwa played his part in making sure that the Warriors found themselves in good standing to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations finals having also qualified for the 2017 finals in Gabon under the same Zifa leadership.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Under Chiyangwa, the Zimbabwe women’s team the Mighty Warriors also qualified for the 2016 Africa Women’s Championships while the Zimbabwe Under 20 team has just finished as runners up in the 2018 Cosafa Under 20 Championships, raising hopes for the future.
It should also be placed on record that the Zimbabwe junior teams had prior to Chiyangwa’s arrival been withdrawn from international participation by the Cuthbert Dube led board due to financial problems.
For two years running, the Warriors were crowned kings of southern African football winning the Cosafa Cup in 2017 and 2018 under coach Sunday Chidzambwa who was appointed by the Chiyangwa board.
It should also be placed on record that under Chiyangwa, all Zimbabwe national team players were paid their dues in time and arrived in camp in time after the Zimbabwe Football Association paid for all their expenses.
More importantly is the fact that for the first time in Zimbabwean football history, most if not all Zimbabwean footballers scattered across the globe were invited and given their chance to play for the national team with Zifa paying all their expenses.
This saw the likes of Tendai Darikwa who plays for Nottingham Forest in England and Alec Mudimu who features for CEFN Druids in Wales getting their places in the Warriors set-up while others like Kundai Benyu, McCauley Bonne, and Admiral Muskwe also came in for trials.
Chiyangwa, however, failed as he had promised to service the heavy Zifa debt, but the ordinary Zimbabwean football fan — who pays for the salaries of Zifa employees and the national team players — does not care about how much Zifa owes, but the success of Zimbabwe national teams on the field of play.
What Kamambo will do will certainly be judged against what Chiyangwa did and the new Zifa boss’ challenge should be to do better than the man he took over from. There are a lot of challenges for Kamambo, the first of which is the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo Brazzaville which Zimbabwe must win or draw to qualify for the continental football festival.
This will be a test case for the Zifa boss as a loss and subsequent elimination will not do any good to his reputation especially in the early stages of his reign. So, Kamambo should move fast and find financial resources to prepare the Warriors fully with a host of international friendly matches. Although getting rid of the massive Zifa debt could prove challenging, Kamambo should also ensure that funds are available for the Mighty Warriors and Zimbabwe junior teams for their international participation as failure to do so would be disastrous.
Junior football is also completely dead in Zimbabwe and Kamambo — who will be in office until 2022 — should do his best to revive grassroots soccer which remains a feeder for national teams the world over.
There is need to bring back the Under 17, Under 20 and Under 23 leagues which gave Zimbabwe some of its best players among them, Peter Ndlovu, Stewart Murisa, Alois Bunjira, and Kaitano Tembo, but have since been abandoned.
The Zifa Cup, which is the FA Cup in other countries also needs to be brought back. This is a tournament that brought joy and entertainment to millions of football fans across the country as it pitted teams from the amateur leagues up to the English Premier League and also took top football stars to the rural and remote areas.
Zimbabwe is the only country all over the world that does not have an FA Cup. The FA Cup in Africa determines who represents the country in the Caf Confederation Cup while in Europe, one of the teams for the Europa League.
It is up to Kamambo and company to find ways and means to bring back the tournament that also brings unity in Zimbabwean football. If well-organised this tournament can sponsor itself due to the popularity it used to have and is likely to have across the country.
First, however, Kamambo should forget the past figures and disagreements and focus on building unity if Zimbabwean football is to move forward. Removing national team coaches or technical teams because they were appointed by Chiyangwa could also prove disastrous. Elections came and are gone and for Chiyangwa and Kamambo, there is no need to keep grudges, but to join hands for the betterment of Zimbabwean football as the two will be forced to meet at Cosafa level where Chiyangwa is the president.
However, Kamambo’s gesture in visiting Chiyangwa for a discussion on the future — after the elections — shows that there are positive indications in their relationship ahead.
It was an interesting election period of twist and turns and now that the elections are over, it is time for serious football business.
Have a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
For your comments, views and suggestions, email [email protected] or WhatsApp on 077 3 266 779.
