Online Reporter
Langton Nyakwenda-Zimpapers Sports Hub
FIFA have revealed that they are impressed with ZIFA’s fresh approach to school football development in Zimbabwe and are ready to assist the association to achieve their targets.
Although the country still faces infrastructure issues, FIFA acknowledge some strides already being made by the new ZIFA leadership, just nine months into office.
FIFA Head of Development Programmes for Africa Solomon Mudege was in the country last week, leading a crew of experts, who conducted the course attended by local Premier Soccer League clubs, Women’s Soccer League and top Regional Division One sides.
During that visit, Mudege and his team conducted an Essential Club Professionalisation and Management Course for Zimbabwe.
It was the first of its kind in the Southern African region and only the second such workshop for club and leagues’ representatives on the continent, having staged one for North and East African countries.
Mudege noted that ZIFA are still being pegged back by infrastructural challenges in their quest to grow the game in Zimbabwe and would explore ways to assist during the current cycle of the FIFA Forward programme and subsequent cycles which may be rolled out by the world football body.
“I think ZIFA is interested in doing that on our side whenever we’ve got infrastructure investments under the Forward Programme. The aim is always to make sure that ZIFA or any other member associations benefits from it for the long term,” Mudege said.
He revealed his happiness with how ZIFA are working on growing schools football in line with FIFA’s vision adding that they also appreciate the hard work done by academies in the country in developing the game .
“So at the moment I think ZIFA has already started working on the football in schools programme and they’re doing very well in terms of the distribution of footballs.
“There is also an app that is available to all the teachers to show how they can teach simple football drills.
“Football in schools also goes beyond just the football skills, but it also teaches things such as respect for the environment, respect for others, gender equality, those are also social aims of the project,” said Mudege.
Zimbabwe successfully hosted the COSAFA Under-17 tournament in Harare in September.
It was a historic tournament that saw the VAR system used at a youth tournament in Southern Africa for the first time.
In 2023, Zimbabwe also hosted the CAF Under-15 Schools Tournament.
“There is also the talent development scheme, which ZIFA is able to benefit from and that looks at how we can give every talent a chance.
“We have processes, we have the employment of the new technical director, which is something that FIFA has also supported so that he puts in place what is required including the coaching courses that have been missing for quite a long time.
“We are looking at a holistic development and activities that we hope will take ZIFA further because if we do things well all these other things address themselves by careful planning and us implementing correctly the available programmes,” added Mudege.
ZIFA recently appointed a new technical director Dominique Niyonzima, who is expected to champion football development across the country.
“I think through the efforts of the TD (technical director) he will come up with a plan of how academies and other football training centres can contribute, but definitely it is acknowledged that academies have an important role to play.
“What needs to be understood is how exactly they can be licensed because there’s also been some negative incidents when academies go abroad and then they have challenges there.
“We may also need to look at the safeguarding component. What training environment do they have? Where do they stay? How do they practice?’’
Mudege added that FIFA will support Magwizi’s vision which includes setting up youth leagues across the country’s 10 provinces.
“We’ll be ready to support ZIFA and the TD in their plans there.
“We’re ready to support schools’ football. NAPH and NASH are something that are important. We need to have youth leagues.
“I think this has been mentioned by the ZIFA president (Magwizi) before, so that even the selection of the players isn’t based on a one-day or two-day tournament but something that is over a long term when a player over a season can show how good he or she is,” said Mudege.
