adminSenior Sports Editor
IT has been a Season of Promises, when it comes to the Golden Jubilee celebrations, which have not been fulfilled.
Both Zifa and Dynamos turned 50 this year and promised quite a show for the country, in marking their celebrations, but as the year comes to an end, it’s clear that they promised more than they could deliver.
The Saturday Herald looks at what was promised and, as can be clearly seen, what was not delivered:
The Herald, February 19, 2013
Zifa court Man City
Petros Kausiyo
Deputy Sports Editor
The Zimbabwe Football Association have launched an audacious bid to lure English champions Manchester City into the country as part of a host of activities to commemorate the association’s 50th anniversary this year.
Just like Premiership champions Dynamos, Zifa, founded on May 17, 1963 as the Rhodesia National Football League, will be turning 50 this year.
The soccer mother body is quietly lining up a number of activities including unveiling a Hall of Fame to honour some of the individuals, organisations and companies that have made a significant contribution to the national game in the last 50 years.
It has, however, emerged that Zifa are also trying to bring into the country some of the top European clubs and relive the glory days when such teams like Coventry City and Dutch outfit PSV Eindhovein toured this country.
Apart from Manchester City, Zifa have also sent invitations to two of the most successful clubs in the English game — 19 time champions Manchester United and their biter rivals Liverpool, who have won league 18 titles.
Zifa are also trying to lure African champions Nigeria as well as Italian and Spanish giants Juventus and Real Madrid respectively with the association expecting any of the clubs to visit during their off-season break which begins at the end of May.
Manchester City regional manager Daniel Paiser on Monday wrote to Zifa chief executive, Jonathan Mashingaidze, acknowledging the invitation that the association had sent to them and also outlined the programmes that the club could chip in with as part of a technical co-operation pact with the local soccer mother body.
The Manchester City regional manager invited Mashingaidze for a meeting in South Africa next week to further explore ways of mutual co-operation.
Mashingaidze, naturally excited about the prospects of securing a partnership deal with the English champions, indicated that he would fly to Johannesburg on Monday for further discussions with Paiser.
The Zifa chief executive also said they had drawn up an ambitious plan to not only celebrate their Golden Jubilee, but to also turn around the domestic game that has been poisoned by seemingly endless personality clashes, boardroom squabbles and corruption and more recently match-fixing.
“I will now meet up with him on Monday next week at midday in Sandton in Johannesburg and follow through with the meeting. Our 50th celebrations rekindle the good old days of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and leverage our football beyond the borders.
“We could also use football as an investment vehicle for this nation through infrastructural development, merchandise sponsorship national teams and the clubs and exchange of human capital.
“This year the association should get out of the old shell and become an association that can do business with football’s big brands,’’ Mashingaidze said.
The Herald, May 22, 2013
Zifa Golden Jubilee Roadmap Unveiled
Ellina Mhlanga
Sports Reporter
THE Zifa Golden Jubilee Committee yesterday unveiled their ambitious roadmap for the celebrations of the national association’s 50th anniversary.
The 13-member committee was commissioned by Zifa last month to co-ordinate the celebrations which will be held under the theme ‘Celebrating 50 years of Zimbabwean football’.
Speaking at a function in the capital, the committee’s chairman, Lovemore Banda said yesterday’s launch marks the actual kick-off of the celebrations.
“While the commissioning of the Zifa Golden Jubilee Committee last month marked the beginning of the celebration of this historic milestone in Zimbabwean football, today’s event is the actual kick-off.
“Our mandate is to co-ordinate the commemoration of 50 years of Zimbabwean football and we have given the event the theme, ‘Celebrating 50 years of Zimbabwean Football.’
“At the core of this mandate is to come up with an awards dinner night in which we will honour those Zimbabweans who contributed to Zimbabwean football in various ways,” said Banda.
The committee has lined up various events including dinners, building up to the main event which is the awards dinner night set for October.
“We will have football galas, merchandise and memorabilia, dinners with speakers from home who can take us down memory path or give us deeper insight into the present and those from abroad who can give us glimpses of the future.
“We will have publications, a monthly newsletter and then what we are describing as a ‘voluminous’ book that will be 50 years of Zimbabwe football on paper.
“For this, we are calling on those still in touch with the yesteryear of the game either through memory, memorabilia, scholarship, or descent to help us fill in the gap.
“The landmark celebration will be the 50th Anniversary awards, a night we hope to capture what has been good about the beautiful game in Zimbabwe since May 1963.
“The Golden Jubilee Celebrations will also see the erection and inauguration of the Zimbabwe Football Hall of Fame, at the Zifa Village in Mount Hampden in Harare. And this year is a good one to begin the project.
The Sunday Mail, June 30, 2013
TP Mazembe for Dynamos Golden Jubilee
Ishemunyoro Chingwere
Reigning Zimbabwe Premiership champions and the country’s most successful football club, Dynamos, have lined up four-time African champions TP Mazembe to be part of their Golden Jubilee celebrations to be held on October 6, The Sunday Mail can reveal.
The Glamour Boys had initially targeted crack South African giants Orlando Pirates but then decided to shift their sights to the Democratic Republic of Congo giants whom they think have a higher international profile.
The match, according to the 19-time Zimbabwean champions’ marketing committee, which has been tasked to co-ordinate the jubilee celebrations, is one of the major highlights that are expected to be kick-started very soon, among them the crowning of the club fans’ best-ever player.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail, the committee’s chairperson, Ignatius Pamire, said Mazembe had agreed in principle to come to Harare but were still looking into their schedule before making a final commitment.
“We have had encouraging engagements with them and they have expressed their willingness to be part of our 50-year celebrations.
“The high-profile match will be played at Rufaro Stadium, where our roots are, on October 6 after a number of other activities which should start with a procession from Mbare into town, other parts of the city and back in Mbare.
“Mazembe was an easy choice for us because we believe they are one of the biggest footballing institutions on the continent,” Pamire said.
Online Reporter