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Don Makanyanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ASPIRING ZIFA presidential candidate Marshall Gore has identified the Government as a key stakeholder in the development of football in the country.
A football agent with more than two decades in football, Gore feels “there is a need to have people with football at heart at the top for the sport to develop in the country.
“My main reason for wanting to go for the president in the ZIFA elections is the pain we suffered as a country when we were suspended from international football.
“I strongly believe that those problems could have been eliminated if we had people that had the game at heart.
“So, I actually think that was a turning point for me, which led me to wanting to do this,” Gore says. Once elected, Gore plans to make football an all-inclusive sport that will enjoy support from the Government.
“We want to be in a position to say if the Government gives us a million dollars to put in grassroots football, we must demonstrate the dividend that will come out from that one million.
“What are the dividends?
“We are looking at the targets. The targets will be making the sport inclusive, making sure that people in rural areas play football, and football is an agent for crime prevention.”
Gore says the Government should not only be engaged when the Warriors have assignments.
He envisages a situation where Government and the private sector complement each other towards the development of football.
“Government should see the value of football. Gone are the days when the Government only came in to rescue the Warriors.
“Why this happened is because the Government had a feeling that it’s not profitable to invest in football.
“But we must submit a bankable business plan to them and have a contract with them. And then we move on to the private sector.
“We want the private sector to come back into football. But we must clearly outline the deliverables if money comes to us.
“So, we need to repackage the game and clearly position the private sector and show them the benefits that they will derive from sponsoring the game and clearly put the outcomes. “In the same vein, we must also engage the government to extend tax rebates to the companies that are loyal in supporting football development.
“That is another way we can say to the Government, “Release tax rebates for companies that are investing in football. And then this can help us to also get revenue coming in so that we can effectively take off in growing the game,” said Gore.
According to Gore, football will be widespread once he gets into power.
“We are touching Futsal; we are touching disabled football; we are touching blind football.
“We have an inclusive and compact manifesto.”
Gore has been travelling across the country meeting ZIFA councillors and is promising to capacitate them through various training programmes.
“I have already been out to the regions to meet the councillors on more than two occasions in each region.
“When I go to the regions, I ask them, “Have you had any workshops?
“When was the last time you had training on football administration and management?
“None. But we are going to roll out programmers in all the regions,” said Gore.
He is already looking forward to Zimbabwe’s next international assignments.
The Warriors play Benin and Nigeria in World Cup qualifiers in March.
“We want to make sure that things are smooth for our national team.
“We are going to work frantically to identify partners that will support us to meet national team-related expenses.
“That we are going to do effectively.
“And I think the government will also be the biggest contributor to that. They have in the past, even though they’ve been short-changed. “But this time around, we are going to assure them that every penny they bring, we’ll be able to account for them and give clearly audited accounts of how that money has been spent.
“I’m reassuring the nation that our players will be well remunerated, and gone are the days where we will have our junior teams failing to participate in continental competitions. We know we have a huge task,” Gore said.
Online Reporter