admin
Zimbabwe had four slots for continental competitions with two teams reserved for the prestigious Champions League and two for the Confederation Cup.
Nonetheless, the country finds itself with only one representative, champions Dynamos who will play in the Champions League after league runners up, Highlanders were ruled out because of a Caf suspension.
The runners up of the country’s premier knock out competition, Mbada Diamonds Trophy which was won by Dynamos, Monomotapa, also opted out of continental football because of the financial challenges. Third placed Chicken Inn were touted as replacements for suspended Highlanders but the club also opted out of the African Safari after weighing the financial implications of the competition.
Highlanders were suspended by Caf after Zifa forwarded their name for the Confederations Cup before the Bulawayo giants could commit themselves to the tournament and as fate would have it, Highlanders said they will not take part in the tournament because they did not have the resources. But Caf did not take into consideration that the boob did not come from the club and handed a three-year ban which should end in 2014.
There were hopes that Caf will hear the Highlanders side of the story ahead of the draw for the next edition, but it turned out the Bulawayo giants, who had their appeal sent through by Zifa, will know their fate in May next year when the Caf Inter-Club competitions committee meets.
“We acknowledge receipt of your letter concerning your request to subscribe Highlanders to Caf inter-clubs competitions beyond 2013. Consequently, we would like to inform you that this request will be submitted at the meeting of Caf organising committee for inter-club competitions in 2013,” wrote Arafa in his letter to Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze. Nonetheless, with Highlanders having not expressed their intention to participate in next year’s Caf competitions, the latest soft stance by the continental mother body gives hope to the black and white family that maybe Caf will be lenient on them in the future.
If the verdict goes in their favour then, it will come as a huge motivational factor for the Kaindu coached boys to fight all the way for the league title so that they return to Africa in 2014.
However, chances are high that Zimbabwe will have a single slot in the Caf Champions league competition following Zimbabwe’s poor showing in the same competition over the last couple of years, thus any team dreaming of a dance in the African safari must win the championship or the major knock out tournament so as to qualify for the Confederations Cup.
Caf has been allocating Zimbabwe two slots in the Champions League and Confederation Cup due to the previously impressive record by Monomotapa and Dynamos.
Highlanders’ last participation was in 2007 when the club was left with a $40 000 debt. The club has been struggling with debts, which have since ballooned to alarming levels, and the break from continental football should actually be a blessing for the Bulawayo giants.
Even though their principal sponsors, BancABC, were to take care of some of the travel and accommodation expenses, the club would still have a mammoth task of raising funds to take care of the rest of the expenses, which would include player and coaches allowances and bonuses, as well as referees expenses and taking care of their opponents when they visit Bulawayo.
The task of playing continental football also comes with a huge homework to sign additional players to take the team through to the mini-league phase where there is money from television and other benefits, otherwise getting booted out in the first two rounds is just a waste of resources, when looked at from the financial perspective. Of course, the benefits of international football to players and coaches are always immense, but they are always far outweighed by financial considerations.
When preparing for continental football, teams should brace themselves for total war, on and off the field, in competitions that have long been dominated by North African teams.
Even the South African league, which is one of the best paying leagues in the continent, is struggling to get a team to break into the apex of continental football, with Orlando Pirates the only team from the southern part of the continent to win the Champions League.
North Africa added another trophy when Egypt’s Al Ahly beat Esperance of Tunisia to win the 2012 Champions League, maintaining their dominance since the inception of the Champions League in 1964. The North got its 26th trophy regardless of the winner between Al Ahly and Esperance, which was more than the number of titles won by other areas of the continent.
While a Northern club recorded its first victory in the fifth edition in 1969 (won by Ismaili of Egypt), teams from the region began to have a real stronghold of the most coveted African competition in 1981 through the Algerian club, Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie.
The region registered 22 wins from 30 finals played; including 11 consecutive wins from 1984 to 1994.
Within the last decade, Enyimba of Nigeria and TP Mazembe of DR Congo challenged the supremacy of Egyptian, Moroccan and Tunisian clubs, each winning the trophy twice. They are also the only two teams alongside Al Ahly to have retained their title during the last ten years.
Both clubs have also played four consecutive finals; TP Mazembe (1967 to 1970) and Al Ahly (2005 to 2008). Presently, Al Ahly are the champions in all categories with six trophies ahead of the biggest home rivals (Egypt), Zamalek with five trophies. TP Mazembe (DRC) have four, Canon (Cameroon), Hafia (Guinea) and Raja (Morocco) have three each, while, Ashanti Kotoko (Ghana), Enyimba (Nigeria), Esperance and JS Kabylie (Algeria) all have two each. 15 other clubs each have a trophy, making a total of 25 clubs.
Egypt is leading country with a total of 12 trophies ahead of Cameroon, Morocco and DR Congo with five each with some winners coming from Ivory Coast and South Africa.
The long and short of it is that the Bulawayo giants were not yet ready for continental football and head coach Kaindu has always said that he was still building a team and the nation can only wait for the 2013 season to see if the Bulawayo giants can stand the heat of the jungles of African football.
They will have to invest a lot in players, get quality players who can compete with teams from the North, come up with a sound preparation programme for continental football, and also create a sound financial base for incentives so as to attract the best in the land. With the costs of continental football and lack of funding for the sport in the country, teams should not jump into continental football for the fun of it. For comments and contributions email [email protected]. You can follow the writer on Twitter and Facebook.
Online Reporter