adminfor the homeless, which is set to run from this Saturday to October 14.
But a team of nine boys from Harare’s high-density suburbs of Hatcliffe and Mbare, who were picked to represent Zimbabwe at this tournament, did not travel to
Mexico as expected after they failed to raise the air-fares for this trip.
Petros Chatiza, manager of Team Zimbabwe for the Homeless World Cup, said earlier this week that they were forced to abort their trip to Mexico after failing to raise the more than US$50 000 that was required for the air-fares and other expenses.
“We tried to run around to raise funds for the Mexico tournament but our plea for financial assistance fell into deaf ears and unfortunately we were forced to pull out of this tournament.
“To say we are disappointed will be an under-statement. We are gutted because all the players in my team were looking forward to competing at this tournament in Mexico in what was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them. . . . We did all that was wanted to be done in order for us to raise funds for this trip but all the people that we approached, both corporates and individuals, turned us down.
“But that’s not the end of the world for us. We will start planning now for next year’s Homeless World Cup which will be held in Poland,” Chatiza said.
Sam Manatsa, who was helping Chatiza in his fund-raising campaign for this year’s Homeless World Cup, described the team’s failure to travel to Mexico as “an embarrassment”.
“We went around knocking on the doors of several companies in Harare and we even approached one big financial institution who initially indicated that they were willing to bail us out only to let us down at the last minute.
“Everybody in our camp is very disappointed because we were really looking forward to taking part in this tournament where we wanted to leave a mark by raising our country’s flag high there in Mexico City.
“Our failure to travel to Mexico is an embarrassment to us and the whole nation because we had committed ourselves to participating in this year’s Homeless World Cup,” Manatsa said.
Poor Team Zimbabwe was expected to make a welcome return to the Homeless World Cup in Mexico this month after a three-year absence from the global tournament.
The draw of the 2012 Homeless World Cup was held in Mexico City at the beginning of last month and Zimbabwe were placed in a tough Group G with Portugal, Austria, USA, Romania and Sweden.
Portugal, Austria, USA, Romania and Sweden have all made their way to Mexico in time for Saturday’s opening ceremony of the 2012 Homeless World Cup at
Zocalo Square in Mexico City.
But the other team in Group G — Zimbabwe — will be conspicuous by their absence after they failed to get the necessary support that would have seen them flying out to the south American country in time for the start of the tournament on Saturday. Chatiza said all their visas to Mexico had been processed and the organisers of the tournament were expecting them to arrive in Mexico City today.
“The organisers of the Homeless World Cup in Mexico were really excited when we confirmed our participation at this tournament,” he said.
“But I think they will be really disappointed by our decision to pull out of this competition at the last minute due to financial constraints,”
Online Reporter