DeMbare fans deserve better

The national television was showing repeats of the just ended Africa Cup of Nations finals in South Africa.
To their credit, Star FM streamed live broadcasts from North Africa.

The only other information about the CA Bizertin versus Dynamos on the mainstream news sites was previews of the match posted a day earlier.
In other towns where Star FM does not broadcast, rumours of a penalty, a send-off, a goal started to dominate in places where there was a blackout of events from Bizerte, Tunisia.

Only those following posts on Dynamos’ official website and another, Dembare.com, got frequent, though irregular, posts on the match.
It seems amazing that the website for our national football association, www.zifa.org , is never accessible and the CAF page of our beloved Zifa still lists Lengthens as a Premier Soccer League team.

There is even mention of a team called FC Platinums on the site, incidentally dated ‘2013’.
We already know that Zifa personnel travel with local teams participating abroad, but there are questions about the role these people play, if any.
Is smiling and shaking people’s hands a job worthy of healthy incentives?

The country’s soccer body has an obligation to give Zimbabweans updates whenever any team under its umbrella plays against any team, at home and abroad.
If Zifa had a Facebook profile it would be easy for these so-called “heads of delegation” or their “assistants” to update a nation on teams, especially those on national duty.

Every time there are international games involving national teams, the Fifa official website carries live scores for every tie, including all of the Warriors’ competitive matches.
Why can’t Zifa inform Zimbabweans of events surrounding local representatives in continental competitions?

The British Broadcasting Corporation, under its world service website, www.bbc.co.uk , caters for all of world sports but places special emphasis on sporting heroes from the United Kingdom.

Whenever there is a tennis tournament involving the world’s best, the UK-based site gives prominence to Scotland’s Andy Murray, who in all honesty is not one of the three best players in the world.

Before major tournaments BBC’s sports editions are littered with Andy Murray interviews, analysis and rumours.
When the tournament gets going, live scores involving the UK’s best player has expanded text commentary, a flood of tweets from both celebrities and the public, and the end of the tennis match never spells the end of the electronic traffic.

Based on BBC’s coverage, one might be mistaken to think that Andy Murray is the best tennis player in the world.
BBC is generous, too, with its coverage of football teams when they play in UEFA competitions.

This year, Arsenal, Manchester City and United, and holders Chelsea got better treatment than the teams that eventually reached the quarter-final stage of the Champions’ League.

The same is true for Lewis Hamilton and Jason Button when compared to other Formula One drivers, or Laura Robinson over the more established WTA players that are miles better than the British top tennis player.

Support for the home team is a trend across Europe.
Prominence is given to the team representing the country in competitions against clubs from other states.
South African websites, SuperSport and KickOff, actively support Super Diski clubs when they compete for continental glory by updating live scores as a match progresses.

In Zimbabwe, it would appear that the lack of support for our sports teams is not just financial.
News sites should not wait to break the story the following day because in this world dominated by electronic communication, information is expected to be instant if there is a huge demand for it, as was the case with DeMbare results from Tunisia.

The news site that decides to offer sports fans the much-needed support also stands to gain as more traffic on its website automatically means a new earning potential from advertising and marketing.

Providing live score updates requires only one person to play the dual role of a spectator and a writer sharing the information with the rest of the country.
Others, including fans, coaches, players and analysts, may join in the chat and add value to it by debating key aspects of the team and circumstances that could provide the game’s turning points.

Years ago, the media, Zifa and the teams themselves could be forgiven for failing to provide real-time updates on Zimbabwean teams competing in foreign lands.
But nowadays, with the internet offering a direct link between the fans and the media or their favourite team, there is no excuse for delaying the excitement of dejection.

At the very least, fans should have a choice between watching their team live or follow live texts and have the option to contribute.