Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
YESTERDAY marked exactly a year since the last local competitive football match was played.
On Saturday, March 14, 2020, reigning league champions FC Platinum took on Highlanders, the Chibuku Super Cup winners, in the Castle Challenge Cup at Barbourfields Stadium.
It was a battle of foreign coaches between Briton Mark Harrison of Bosso and Dutchman Hendrik Pieter de Jongh for the platinum miners.
De Jongh had coached Bosso to the Chibuku Super Challenge success in 2019 and a sixth-place finish in the league in the four months that he was in charge.
De Jongh’s romance with Highlanders had ended in “heartbreak” as he had become a Bosso fans’ favourite and always savoured victory walks to the appreciative Soweto-end crowd.
This was a game in which De Jongh was facing his replacement at Bosso, Harrison.
A lot was expected from Harrison, who had previously been in charge of Harare City and Caps United.
However, the De Jongh came out tops in the battle of the coaches, winning his second trophy in Zimbabwe after FC Platinum dismissed Bosso 2-0.
30-year-old Silas Songani, who had spent years in Denmark and returned home to join FC Platinum, stole the show with a brace in what was a dominant performance by the league champions.
Sadly, the major talking point from the Castle Challenge Cup was the violence that erupted towards the end of the contest, as some hooligans almost caused the abandonment of the match after engaging in running battles with the police.
That was sadly the last memory of local football as a year later the game is still on suspension following outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced Government to impose a lockdown that remains in force today.
The next competitive local game could be played without fans as Government has banned large crowds that could be super spreaders of the pandemic.
The Footballers Union of Zimbabwe, club administrators and supporters have united in calling on the Government to consider the plight of players, most of who are breadwinners and career athletes.
Without the means to earn an income during lockdowns, many players are unable to feed themselves and their families. For most, no income means no food.
The continued freeze has thrown players into abject poverty, which has forced them to turn to other means for survival.
Younger players have been robbed of an opportunity to showcase their talent to global scouts as they are being overlooked for national team selection due to inactivity.
Lower division coaches have also expressed worry that some players might quit the game due to frustration and the need to eke out a living.
The Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation and the Sports and Recreation Commission are believed to be involved in a series of high-level meetings to consider allowing sports deemed as high-risk to return under strict health and safety protocols.
An outcome is expected anytime this week. — @innocentskizoe
Online Reporter