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Tomorrow marks the end of an eventful 2023 football season, including expiry of many contracts for both players and coaches.
It is every football fan’s wish that the ugly past does not return when the new year gets underway on Monday.
Zimbabwe football has suffered a lot in recent years and it is our wish that the 2024 calendar year ushers a new era of positivity.
Already one of the good things to happen in local football this year was the lifting of an 18-month Fifa ban, ending a forgettable experience players and fans would never want to endure again.
As the year comes to an end, the most popular football story on the continent is the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cote d’Ivoire.
A number of countries have named their squads for the tournament set for next month.
However, Zimbabwe will be following the event from the terraces as the Warriors were removed from the qualifiers following the Fifa ban.
The Warriors had been drawn in Group K with Morocco, South Africa and Liberia with the top two securing tickets to the finals.
It was a fair draw, one that gave the Warriors a very good chance of making it to the finals.
But the qualifying campaign never happened and this was largely due to the selfishness by Felton Kamambo and his Zifa board that had eventually been kicked out of office.
Kamambo and his team had deliberately disregarded the Sports Commission even on matters the governing body is mandated to do via an act of parliament.
Banking on Fifa’s position on what they deem third-party interference, Kamambo fought very hard for sanctions on Zimbabwe.
For him and team, the game of football in Zimbabwe had to suffer as a way of securing their reinstatement as a precondition for the lifting of the suspension by Fifa.
They gambled on the assumption that there would be immense pressure on the Government to force the SRC to drop their case against Kamambo’s board so that the Warriors would take part in the relatively easy qualifiers.
It was a gamble that did not succeed and football players and fans were made to endure pain for 18 months under the Fifa ban that also ruined FC Platinum’s CAF Champions League participation, the Mighty Warriors and referees’ participation internationally.
Instead of allowing Kamambo and his gang to do as they pleased, the SRC, Premier Soccer League, Footballers Union of Zimbabwe and other stakeholders were engaged in intense discussions with Fifa. This led to the lifting of the ban, a decision that was made public on July 11.
The Footballers Union of Zimbabwe were later honoured for their role in getting Fifa to lift the ban at the Fifpro awards in November.
FUZ were one of three player associations nominated for the 2023 FIFPRO Union Impact Award, which recognises the best initiative of a union that is improving the well-being of professional footballers in their country.
During the FIFPRO general assembly on November 21-24 in South Africa, all member unions voted to decide which of the three finalists won the 2023 Union Impact Award and FUZ were victorious.
It was noted that FUZ made strong representations at both Fifa and CAF that players were victims of the actions taken by stakeholders and governing bodies without considering the players’ plight.
“The players wanted to find a solution to get the ban lifted; they wanted to make the decision-makers aware what the players were experiencing, especially as it was the players who were suffering most from sanctions put in place against ZIFA’s and SRC’s governance shortcomings,” read part of the Fifpro notes on FUZ’s role in getting the Fifa ban lifted.
On the other hand, the sports ministry and SRC also made their cases and Fifa agreed to lift the ban unconditionally, against the expectations of Kamambo and gang together with their sympathisers even in the media.
The decision was a big blow and it did not come as a surprise when Kamambo’s gang tried to get Fifa to suspend Zimbabwe again on the basis that they wanted SRC to withdraw a matter that is before the magistrates’ court.
Kamambo wrongly believed it was a condition for his acceptance of the July 11 FIFA decision even after the world governing body indicated that the lifting of the suspension imposed on ZIFA and the appointment of a Normalisation Committee “shall take place without prejudice to the ongoing investigations and court proceedings at national level.”
Fifa put in place a Normalisation Committee to run ZIFA on an interim basis and prepare ground work for the association’s next elective assembly.
That process has not been smooth as a lot is still shrouded in secrecy but, regardless, we insist that the mantle is with the Normalisation Committee and they must be allowed to deal with the reform challenges before them.
It is therefore our hope that all the stakeholders realise that the Warriors are not at the 2024 Afcon finals largely due to selfishness on the part of Kamambo and his gang.
It is therefore crucial that all stakeholders use 2024 to restore Zimbabwean football in every respect, including getting CAF-certified match venues for all teams with international assignments.
Local clubs need to fight for slots in the newly introduced, lucrative tournaments on the continent, which will go a long way in growing the game.
As the year comes to an end, let us bury the ghost of Kamambo and have a prosperous 2024 for local football.
Online Reporter