Chronicle Editor
Stanford Chiwanga, [email protected]
ONLY one football club still attracts thousands of fans consistently to its matches despite its failures on the pitch. That club is Highlanders, and its home ground is Barbourfields Stadium. Every Sunday, the arena, located in Bulawayo’s Barbourfields suburb, hosts hordes of aficionados who part with their hard-earned money to watch 11 men, dressed in black and white stripes kick a ball.
Since 1926, Highlanders has been backed by tens of thousands of fans who never hesitate to watch their team from the terraces. These tens of thousands of fans are just the tip of the iceberg, a drop in the bucket, a sliver of the full scope, a small portion, a remnant, a sample. Away from the stadium, millions love Bosso; they cheer when it wins, they mourn when it loses.
All these fans are the reason Highlanders still exists. Without them, Chicken Inn could be the only consistent team in Bulawayo today. Highlanders are owned by no one. The club relies on the benevolence of the fans and companies that bankroll it. Take away the companies, Highlanders will still exist — it will struggle, of course, but it will survive.
Take away the fans, Highlanders will go extinct. It will vanish from the face of the earth. It will become like Zimbabwe Saints. Like Arcadia United, Black Aces, Blackpool, and Shooting Stars, we will talk about Amahlolanyama in past tense.
On Sunday, Highlanders take on ZPC Kariba at Barbourfields Stadium. The stadium will be almost empty — the fans have decided to stay away. Not because of the snooze-fest football that the team is dishing out every weekend. They are not staying away because Kelvin Kaindu has lost the plot, no. They are shunning the match because their beloved team was sanctioned and made to part with US$6 000 over crowd trouble that took place at Wadzanayi Stadium. In their minds, the punishment was too harsh.
But what the fans forget in their protest is that football is more than them. There are other stakeholders involved. The moment the fans stay away from football when they protest with their bums at the clubhouse and not on the terraces, the companies that bankroll Highlanders will leave. Companies are not sponsoring Highlanders because of its past glories. They are not that nostalgic. They do not care about that save that Tapuwa Kapini made or that crafty pass created by Johannes Ngodzo’s boot. They sponsor Bosso because it’s a popular club. They sponsor Bosso because of the passion displayed on match day by the fans. They are attracted by the roadshows created by a train of vehicles waving black and white flags when the fans are driving to away matches.
Take all of that away and companies have no reason to sponsor Highlanders. Without the fans, Highlanders is soulless. The fans say they will be at the clubhouse and will use their gathering to raise funds for the club. They refuse to go to the match as they believe it is tantamount to biting the hand that feeds them. That is their right and it should be respected. No doubt they will score a moral victory. No doubt they will feel justified. But is that move sustainable? Will they do it on every match day or this is a one-off?
It better be a one-off because the repercussions will be telling if the boycott becomes a “permanent fixture” whenever Highlanders feel aggrieved. No company wants to sponsor a club that has fans that behave that way. Sakunda Holdings will not tolerate that. Nyaradzo Funeral Services will not easily bury the hatchet. Arenel won’t find anything sweet in such conduct. Utande Internet Services will feel disconnected from such an act. The Premier Soccer League and sponsors are certainly not impressed by Sihlangu Dlodlo, the Highlanders CEO. His reaction to the boycott laid bare his inability to navigate treacherous waters. Highlanders are in a crisis and strategic communication should have been implemented through the public relations department. It wasn’t. Dlodlo, in his wisdom, faced the media on Thursday and endorsed the boycott in so many words.
“Yes, we will attend because we have an interest in both these functions. I come from a marketing background. In marketing, the basic principle is that products compete for customers.
“We have a group of Highlanders supporters who have organised an event that coincides with an event organised by PSL. So, for us as Highlanders, we support both events, we will participate in both events, and we will advertise for both events.
“Where the customer votes remains to be seen. Boycott is a big word. Is it a boycott with a big B or a small b? When someone enters a shop and decides to buy Coke over Fanta, it doesn’t mean they have boycotted Fanta.
“I don’t think the fans are unhappy with the $ 6,000 fine. If they were unhappy, they would not be fundraising to pay that fine. I take it that they are ‘happy’ with a small ‘h’ to say this is what we have. Highlanders have been fined for what happened in Shamva, and that cannot be changed at the moment. So, as members of Highlanders, we need to find a way of helping the club pay this fine.
“If it was a boycott in the true sense, these people would be asking Highlanders not to pay the $6,000. But these people are saying no, let’s work within the regulations of PSL. Whether we think PSL is correct or not, let’s work within the confines of their rules and regulations. So, the fans are helping us to pay.
“There is always that risk. You may want to ask the same question to PSL and say when you fixture a big game like Highlanders and Simba Bhora to be played at Wadzanayi, did you assess the risk in terms of the size of the field, the emergency exit, the construction that is there, and the stones that lie there? Did you assess the risk? In football, there is always a risk.
“When we play at Barbourfields, there is a risk that some people whose interest is not necessarily football will hijack the event, throw stones, sing derogatory songs, and bring in political messages.
“That risk is always there. But do you then sit at home and not participate in an event because of a risk that you know is always part of football? No, we will not sit, but we will do due diligence and assess the size of the risk and then weigh the options. Is this risk worth taking? If the risk becomes a reality, what is our capability of controlling it?”
A disingenuous Dlodlo continued to tie himself in knots. He went a gear up in his self-effacing press conference. He tried to distance himself from the boycott, but his words betrayed him. In short, he rebelled against the organisation to which Highlanders belongs.
“The people that are organising; I am sure they know they have to make these assessments and prepare adequately for that. As Highlanders, we are trying to make sure there is minimal distraction of any sort and make sure there is minimal hijacking of the event. We can’t sit here and say there is no risk. If you get married, we will come to your wedding, but there is a risk.
“That is for the people that are organising the event. You are allowed to hire our grounds for a social football or have a birthday party. The other month, we had a woman who organised a Father’s Day celebration, and it was their obligation to have a police clearance.
“We talked to the people that are organising. There are people that we trust among those organising. This is why we agreed that they go ahead with this event. We asked them what protocols they have in place to ensure that the handling of money falls within the standards that Highlanders are expected to keep, and we were satisfied that they will adhere to those.”
If Highlanders are divorced from the boycott, what was the point of Dlodlo’s little soliloquy? Why did he find it necessary to be the devil’s advocate? Why did he speak with authority about an event that he claims to not know much about? What did he mean by “we agreed that they go ahead with this event”?
Such words are never supposed to be uttered by club officials. Dlodlo behaved like an angry fan. He let his emotions get the better of him. He displayed poor judgement at a time when cool heads are needed. He wasn’t supposed to comment about the boycott at all.
He allowed himself to fall into a trap set by journalists. At times, silence is golden and in this case, it was better to remain silent than to speak. At a time when the fans are noisy, it’s always best to stay quiet.
Karen Marie Moning once said, “Words can be twisted into any shape. Promises can be made to lull the heart and seduce the soul. In the final analysis, words mean nothing. They are labels we give things in an effort to wrap our puny little brains around their underlying natures, when 99 percent of the time the totality of the reality is an entirely different beast. The wisest man is the silent one. Examine his actions. Judge him by them”.
Dlodlo would do well to live by these words going forward. He should let the public relations department lead all communication on behalf of Highlanders. If he is not sure of what to say, then he should not say anything at all or he risks making things worse. As Eknath Easwaran once said, “In silence, we often find solutions to problems we can’t solve in any other way”.
@plainstan
Online Reporter