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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
ZIFA Bulawayo Province acting chairman Allan Mpofu says it shall be mandatory for all teams to conduct medicals for all their players and have certified medical teams on the bench during matches from the beginning of next season.
The move has been necessitated by a number of tragic incidents that have rocked the lower division leagues and junior football in Bulawayo.
In August, CIWU midfielder Tyson Mazithulela made a crude open foot tackle that left Innocent Kutsanzira with a broken leg and hospitalised during a Division One encounter.
With no stretcher at the venue, a table top was used to ferry Kutsanzira into an open City of Bulawayo pick-up truck, as there was also no ambulance on site, which is a norm in Division One football.
On Sunday, young defender Cedric Dube collapsed on the field and was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. The teenage footballer suffered an asthma attack while playing for his side Talen Vision in a Division Three league game against Bulawayo City on the dusty Barbourfields Stadium outside grounds.
These and other unrecorded incidents have raised calls for Zifa to ensure that there is always proper medical back-up at every sanctioned football game.
Mpofu said they are seriously working on ensuring that the safety of players on the field of play is guaranteed at all costs.
“As from the beginning of next season, we want to see all teams with certified medical teams. It is something that we have been talking about as an association. Next season we want a team to have a qualified medical team on the bench before a game kicks-off. Also, teams should conduct medicals before the season, as this will be key in ensuring that underlying medical conditions are known and proper measures are taken to handle such situations,” Mpofu said.
Sports medicine guru Dr Nicholas Munyonga early this week encouraged Zifa to ensure that it adheres to Fifa and Caf standards on the health and welfare of players.
He further called on Zifa to extend courses on the health of players to the lower divisions, saying the presence of a doctor and a nurse were a minimum requirement at competitive games. – @innocentskizoe
Online Reporter