daniel chigunwe
Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Warriors skipper Benjani Mwaruwaru has called on football stakeholders to find a quick solution to ZIFA’s woes so that athletes are not entirely disadvantaged by the suspension from the international family of football by FIFA.
Mwaruwari believes that being frozen out of international competitions will only harm the footballers and the local game which is already on its deathbed.
Mwaruwari was speaking on the sidelines of a football tournament that was hosted in Tafara on Sunday by the ZANU-PF Harare East candidate Mavis Gumbo.
The former Manchester City and Portsmouth forward together with former Warriors defender Harlington Shereni and legendary goalkeeper Brenna Msiska were the invited guests at the tournament.
And Benjani, who is the current Warriors assistant coach by virtue of being the Under-23 gaffer, gave his thoughts on the topical issue that has divided opinion among the football supporters.
FIFA last Thursday evening banned ZIFA and said the football federation will only be readmitted once the Sports Commission have lifted the suspension of the suspended Felton Kamambo-led ZIFA board.
However, the Sports Commission, who banned the association last year in November, are adamant that they are not going to reinstate the alleged corrupt board but would rather use the time to put proper football and corporate structures into the game. “As a footballer, or as a sportsperson, if you are banned, it shows that whatever we are doing, we are going backward,” said Mwaruwari.
“As we speak now, of course, some people will say we want to clean the sport, but sometimes you need to find a way, how to clean it. It has been like this for a long time, so personally, I think they should have found a way whereby they would talk among each other so that they clean it properly,”
Mwaruwari, who captained the Warriors at the 2006 African Cup of Nations, having taken the armband from Peter Ndlovu, feels that both the suspended board and the regulator Sports Commission should compromise and map a way forward.
“For me I just want common ground and football progresses, that’s my wish because the players will suffer, the coaches will suffer because we need to go and get the experience playing with other countries because it has been to two, three years without playing football. Look, at what we did at AFCON this year, we can’t blame even coach or something because football was not being played (in the country, due to Covid), even though the majority of the players were playing outside the country,” Mwaruwari said.
FIFA have set a clear condition that either the suspended board’s charges are dropped, and they are reinstated, or Zimbabwe remained banned. Part of the conditions from the global family is that all national teams, as well as top local clubs, will be ineligible to take part in CAF and FIFA competitions. Moreso local players will not be able to secure contracts outside the country, while CAF elite referees, CAF instructors, and any technical persons will also not be considered for international assignments.
“Let’s hope this issue will be resolved quickly. It is painful for us former footballers to see what’s going on you know, but let’s hope they will resolve it and they clean up football the way they are saying if it’s for the good of the game.
“It is painful as a former captain, and assistant coach of the Warriors coach, and the Under-23 team coach, but we are now in the situation, and we need to fix what is broken. I think that is the only thing that I can say, we need to fix what is broken.
“It’s 50-50 what I just said. I might blame ZIFA, I might blame the SRC but the best way to do it is to come together. In any sport we need to come together, we all know that music, football, unites people so if we are fighting, we are like killing football as well. So we need to find a common ground whereby we can help each other, and chart the way forward,’’ said Mwaruwari.
Mwaruwari also challenged Kamambo and his board members to sacrifice personal glory and pave way for fresh administrators.
“So if they (the suspended ZIFA board) are for the country, they should step aside, and say “you know what, we don’t want you to be banned, but we want our football to progress,” but in most cases in situations like these, people tend to be selfish. Sometimes, just walk away, and say okay “I have done my part, even if I was meant to serve four years,” Mwaruwari said.
Considering that ZIFA’s term of office was set to expire at the end of this year, Mwaruwari feels the situation could also have been handled differently to avoid the ban from the Zurich-based organisation.
“If it’s for the good reasons (not to reinstate them), then they have to stay in their lane, but if it’s not helping everyone they have to find the common ground, talk to each other and see the way forward considering that the suspended ZIFA board is left with almost six or seven months before their term of office ends.
“They had time to resolve this before FIFA banned everyone, and I believe by now they should have found what ZIFA did. At the moment, we hear one has been arrested, given bail, you know when one has been accused, and we need to know what’s going on, even if they are cleaning, we need to know so that the next person who is coming cannot commit the same mistakes,” said Mwaruwari.
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