FIELD DAY FOR MAGAYA’S CRITICS

Sharuko on Saturday

IF British business tycoon Richard Branson was a Zimbabwean, he would not be eligible to contest for the ZIFA presidency, because he would be considered not educated enough for the post.

The businessman would have been elbowed out of the race because he dropped out of school at the age of 16 as he struggled badly with his studies.

The ZIFA councillors would have bluntly told him that he doesn’t have a minimum of five O-Level passes.

He would have been disqualified because he wasn’t good in things like the Pythagoras Theorem and trigonometry, how to draw a circle with a compass, long division, in the age of calculators, and writing in cursive.

He would have been disqualified because he wasn’t good in history exams where, among other things, they would ask him to know the capital of Tajikistan.

And, in some instances, his failure to identify the man who murdered American president Abraham Lincoln, would elbow him out of the ZIFA presidential polls.

The irony of it is that Lincoln himself, if he was a Zimbabwean and was alive today, would also have been ineligible to contest for the ZIFA presidency.

Lincoln did not have any formal education but, 259 years since he was killed on April 14, 1865, his legacy endures and is considered the greatest American president of all-time.

That is largely derived from his excellent leadership during the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery.

His face has been immortalised on Mount Rushmore alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge.

A number of the ZIFA councillors who passed that amendment last Friday probably came to the meeting driving a Ford vehicle.

They probably don’t know that the man who started the company that still makes these vehicles, Henry Ford, was just a machine shop apprentice without any college education.

What this tells us is that the most successful people don’t really need to have the best education for them to reach for the stars.

The best leaders don’t necessarily have to be the ones who were the geniuses at school or in college.

That is why Roman Abramovich is the greatest Chelsea owner of all-time, after guiding the club to 21 titles in 19 years, despite being a college dropout.

Chelsea, a club I believe many of these ZIFA councillors support, had not won a league title for 50 years when, under the Russian billionaire, they won it with Jose Mourinho in charge.

Four other league titles, five FA Cup titles, two Europa League titles, one World Club Cup title and three League Cup titles followed under this college drop-out ownership.

No one can dispute the value of education and one thing we have done very well as Zimbabweans is that we developed this culture of sending our kids to school, no matter our personal challenges.

Five O-Level passes are a basic requirement and we all agree with that.

But, where we don’t agree is that the best possible leader of our football can only be someone who, at least, has five O-Level passes.

Cuthbert Dube is probably the most educated ZIFA president we have had in the association’s history.

But, he failed the test to lead ZIFA.

And, the very councillors who rejected and ousted him, arguing that his educational qualifications were not helping our game, are the ones today who are supporting this amendment to make education a requirement.

WHAT ABOUT FIVE O-LEVELS FOR ALL COUNCILLORS?

If we really wanted to ensure that the value of basic education can help change our football, when it comes to its administration, then we should not have restricted this five O-Levels thing to the ZIFA presidency.

We should have amended the constitution to say that anyone who wants to become a ZIFA councillor should have a minimum of five O-Levels.

That would have been a game-changer.

Then, we would have seen if these ZIFA Councillors, who have created almost 99 percent of the mess we see in our football because of their love for money, are really sincere in placing a value on education.

They can’t have their cake and eat it, too.

They can’t propose to have a certain educational benchmark, when it comes to the leader they should have, when they themselves do not have the same basic qualifications.

It doesn’t make any sense to me that these people are happy with a situation where they can have a ZIFA boss, and his two deputies, who have a basic level of education, when the whole executive barely passed Grade Seven.

That is the reality we face right now because there is no minimum level of education which is required for one to be a ZIFA executive committee member.

So, basically, we have a hypothetical situation where we will have a ZIFA executive committee of 11 members, of which three – the president and two deputies – will have a basic education of a minimum of five O-Levels.

Then, the other eight executive committee members will be, let’s say, Grade 7 dropouts, and it will still be alright, in the eyes of the ZIFA councillors.

It doesn’t matter to them that those eight members will virtually be running the show because they have the bigger chunk of numbers in a leadership where many decisions are done by casting votes.

If we really want to overhaul our football administration, and give priority to education where we say a basic O-Level pass is a must, we must apply this to all the councillors.

The Sports and Recreation Commission, who will need to clear the amendments for them to be operational, should return the document which was sent by ZIFA back to the association.

They should issue clear guidelines that if this is the route the association wants to take the basic five O-Level passes rule should apply to all the councillors.

That means we will have to go back to the foundation and ensure that there are fresh polls for all the branches that make the ZIFA Congress and only those, with a minimum of five O-Level passes will qualify for these posts.

That way we can have a true beginning to the way we administer our football rather than this experiment that we know is targeted at the majority of our former footballers.

We shouldn’t allow people like Rosemary Mugadza to shower these ex-footballers with insults like that they should go back to night school if they want to be the ZIFA president.

POOR MAGAYA HAS TAKEN A BATTERING

Walter Magaya has taken a battering on social media this past week from people who have been mocking him, insinuating that he doesn’t have five O-Levels and, by extension, doesn’t qualify for the ZIFA presidency.

It has been a tough week for him, but it’s something the backlash is something he should have expected once his name started being floated around in connection with the ZIFA presidency.

It’s a dirty battleground where even pigs will refuse to play because there are absolutely no rules out there and they really hit you so hard, using all sorts of falsehoods, you feel it.

To his credit, he hasn’t responded because it will make it worse and, even if he shows us that he passed his five O-Levels, there will be thousands of his critics who will say he forged his certificate.

What I don’t really agree with, though, is that no one should be seen to be embracing Magaya as someone who doesn’t only qualify but can be a good ZIFA president.

I’m not saying he is the best candidate for that job but I am saying that he has done enough in football to deserve a crack at becoming ZIFA president.

Whether he wins or doesn’t win is another matter but what can’t be disputed is that he has created a profile as a passionate football fan and good administrator.

He has his flaws, just like all of us, but those flaws, real or imaginary, should never be used to paint the wrong picture that he cannot make a decent ZIFA president.

We cannot all think in one particular way, especially where the environment gives us choices, as is the case with the elections for the ZIFA leaders.

We are different as individuals and that is why some support Dynamos, others support Highlanders, some support CAPS United and some support Chegutu Pirates.

We see different values in different clubs and even different players and different coaches.

To suggest that Magaya doesn’t fit the bill to be a ZIFA boss, something which even Felton Kamambo did and took his family and pastor to the AFCON finals, is an insult to him.

He might not be the fellow I want to be the next ZIFA president but that shouldn’t barricade my thoughts from seeing that, indeed, he has some credentials which should give him a good chance for a crack at the job.

The quick jab that has come from those who fiercely oppose him has been to throw aspersions at anyone, who doesn’t see things like them, claiming they would be singing Magaya’s song because they have been bribed.

Bribes, or whatever, did not build the Heart Stadium, something which was last done by individuals in Harare in the 1960s when national hero Eric Nyakudya Gwanzura and his brothers built Gwanzura Stadium.

Bribes, or whatever, did not build the Heart sports apartments, have not bankrolled Yadah’s stay in the Premiership in the last seven years, which has cost a considerable fortune.

That women’s tournament, providing a home to Khama Billiat on his return home, all those young players training in the academy, it all comes from passion.

Such passion cannot be replaced by five O-Level passes or just hatred towards an individual.

I know this is very hostile territory and there will be a flood of insults directed towards me but that is the nature of the terrain.

It’s funny that those who will be abusing me for my stance will be using Facebook and, just like the ZIFA councillors, it won’t ring in their heads that it’s a platform that was created by a college dropout.

His name is Mark Zuckerberg.

Some will be using WhatsApp.

And, just like the ZIFA councillors, it won’t ring a bell to them that his service was also created by a man who also dropped out of college.

His name is Jan Koum.

I’m not moved, after all, this is the same constituency that will reject Richard Branson.

To God Be The Glory!

Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton, Daily Service, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all the Chakariboys still in the struggle.

Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Khamaldhinoooooooooooooooooo!

Text Feedback: 0772545199

WhatsApp: 0772545199

Email: [email protected]