adminKhuphuka Nasingeni
As Zimbabweans I think we need to affirm our belief and restore our respect and pride in the brand that our nation is a brand that some are taking for granted. A few jokes on social media can be ignored.
However, when acres of media space and prime time broadcasting time is spent casting aspersions on our abilities or lack of thereof in the area of football administration, it raises serious questions.
What should unsettle us or at most embarrass us, seems to amuse quite a lot of Zimbabweans.A� I do not know if we are trying to earn some distinction of building some tourist attraction by poking fun at ourselves.
The Warriors arrived in Guinea last weekend on the day of the match and we lost the game.A� Some of the players had not even practised with the rest of the team and probably used the first half of the match as the practice session.
Incidentally the Guinea team scored in the first half. I have been consulting the bones, the stars, crystal ball and even my own Paul the octopus (II), trying to get some insight into the road to Gabon.
The bones show some dark clouds, some dust and serious arguments later and players dejectedly seated by the centre circle. The stars show me a long and windy road through some jungle where some armed warriors fight off armies and arrive at some open square exhausted to even notice the excited welcome by disappointed villagers.
Not to be outdone, the crystal ball and Paul concur that there shall be more bold declarations of support for fighters but that the expected help in reality might not be as forthcoming. We hear preparations will be smooth, hopefully not too smooth to be felt! Before I get carried away with the future, briefly on the now.
I read pieces on what is wrong with Zimbabwean football administration. Some of the views bordered of accusations that the Philip Chiyangwa-led Zifa had sold the nation a dummy and the Zifa (or is it Nafaz?) presidenta��s campaign manifesto overstated certain things.
Some were over that phase completely.A� They actually pictured the Warriors on their way to Gabon by bus, and Zifa officials trying to arrange all sorts of stop-overs in the countries the bus would drive through, and arranging enough blankets for the coach and players! I am angry at the mere thought of such an eventuality.
Maybe it is time the real gods stood up and rescued the Gabon pilgrimmage. I shall tread with caution since I have encroached into the realm of gods but with my view being that we have enough gods already I shall caution against creating some more in football and related activities. My prayer is that Gabon 2017 shall be blessed, not cursed.
There is a danger in granting extra-terrestrial beings leave to dash off with our beautiful sport.A� Maybe the cobra sangomas could help us track down robbers in our beautiful sport. But then we could be too broke to afford hire fees for the snakes!
God forbid it gets to that during this Holy period. You see, Mother Teresa was canonised this week, and what a great woman she was. St Teresa of Calcutta is quite befitting. As the Catholic family joyfully welcomed a new saint, however, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian cricket captain was heaving a sigh of relief after the Supreme Court quashed criminal proceedings lodged against him for allegedly portraying himself as Lord Vishnu, one of the three main male deities in Hinduism, on a magazine cover page, thereby hurting religious sentiments.
Local gods standing in the way of progress should be warned that we can also seek legal recourse since their preaching has not taken us to the promised land.
Online Reporter