Govt backs future Warriors

The Government’s pledge comes in the wake of the Warriors’ failure to qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nations finals to be co-hosted Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart believes the Warriors, with better travel arrangements, could have managed a result in Praia and qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations.
It had been Zifa’s wish to ensure the Warriors travelled on chartered flights for all their away games to Liberia, Mali and Cape Verde.

But the association was left with a huge deficit after using their limited resources to charter a plane for the opening Group A game against Liberia in Monrovia in September last year
When the Warriors flew to Bamako for the second away assignment, Zifa president Cuthbert Dube had to lodge the title deeds to his house as a guarantee for a bank loan.
In contrast most of the successful national teams across the continent such as the Black Stars of Ghana, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, Nigerian Super Eagles and Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles receive significant government backing during their campaigns.

It is this similar relationship that government now wants to have with the Warriors through Zifa.
Coltart also acknowledged that that the Warriors’ poor travelling had impacted on their results away from home as ironically he only point they got on the road came after they had flown on charted flight to Monrovia.
“Had we been able to plan better as a nation we may have been able to perform better in Cape Verde. Because of the delays in organising flight tickets the team only came together 48 hours before the match and no team can be expected to perform well under such circumstances.

“The problems didn’t start in Cape Verde this weekend but goes back to last year when there was chaos with coaches.
“It affected the momentum we had created,” said Coltart.
Turning to the Fifa grassroots development programme, which will see the world governing body channeling training equipment to primary schools following the endorsement by Government, Coltart said the ministry would be supportive.

“I think this agreement is important. We will not explore the potential if we don’t start at grassroots.
“There has been in the past a disconnection between Sports and Culture.
“And the key component is to integrate sports and culture and the Principal Director is pursuing this project which will complement the curriculum,” said Coltart.

Government, however, wants Zifa to also give more attention to the grassroots game.
The State’s pledge for increased support for Zifa was revealed during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Government and the association.
Zifa, who have been struggling for finances for several years, have also had to solely fund all the national team’s campaigns.

It was the same tale in the campaign for a place at the 2012 finals in which Mali won through ahead of Zimbabwe and Cape Verde.
The State only came to the party, albeit a little late, chipping in with funding for last Sunday’s Group A final qualifier against Cape Verde in Praia.
Speaking at the signing ceremony between the mother body and the government for grassroots development in schools, Coltart admitted that their partnership with the association had not as been as smooth as anticipated.

“Our relationship has not been a consistent well planned relationship but that must change.
“Government has a role to play. The Ministry is determined to help Zifa but we simply have to develop strategies to ensure this magnificent team qualifies in the future.
“I believe in the future we will not only qualify for Africa Cup of Nations but World Cup as well.

“We are cognisant of Fifa rules not to be involved (as government) in the intricate details,” said Coltart.
The Minister added that the up coming football indaba scheduled for next month which will involve the ministry and all the stakeholders should help iron out a lot of issues and chart the way forward.
“I have been wanting to have the workshop for some time and I am happy we have agreed to have it by the end of November.

“Then we will have the roadmap, which will govern the relationship. I need to underscore this cannot be Government only. There is need to get sponsors for the national team,” said Coltart.
Zimbabwe together with seven other African countries have been selected by Fifa for the pilot project which is meant to develop grassroots football in primary schools.
The soccer mother body has been waiting for the signature of the relevant ministry for Fifa to start channeling the resources for the project meant for 6-12 year olds.

Zifa board member finance Elliot Kasu said the project would involve teachers as well as parents.
“The pilot project will start in Harare before spreading to all ten provinces. Fifa will come in with the support via equipment and training programmes for teachers training in coaching and refereeing courses.

“It is targeting primary schools and there would much involvement of Naph, Nash, Olympic association and local authorities.
“We got the project because of the confidence Fifa now have in us. This can be seen by the visits we have been getting from Fifa officials,’’ said Kasu.