Online Reporter
Langton Nyakwenda, [email protected]
ZIFA Southern Region chairman Chris Mtungwazi has called on football administrators across the country to close ranks and focus on rebuilding the game following the launch of the $25 million Munhumutapa Challenge Cup.
The new national tournament, unveiled in Harare last week by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, is being positioned as one of the biggest competitions ever introduced in local football.
For Mtungwazi, though, the lasting message from the launch was not the prize money.
It was the call for unity.
“Football unites people across the world. The President said it and everyone who was there heard the message,” Mtungwazi said.
“If the first citizen says football must unite people, then as administrators, we must take that seriously. I am urging fellow leaders in the game to work together for the good of Zimbabwean football.”
The Munhumutapa Challenge Cup is modelled on the English FA Cup and will feature clubs from across the country. Organisers have also included women’s football, futsal, and beach soccer in the tournament structure.
Its launch comes at a time when ZIFA has been rolling out several programmes aimed at rebuilding the sport.
Among them is the BancABC Roots Impact Programme, a grassroots development initiative expected to reach thousands of young players around the country.
The association has also signed a partnership with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to ensure football is played throughout the year in schools, while teachers receive technical training.
Mtungwazi believes such initiatives can only succeed if administrators pull in the same direction.
“These are important steps for Zimbabwean football and I think the leadership under president Nqobile Magwizi deserves support,” he said.
“He is the leader of the association and we must respect that. We were all elected to serve football and we should work together so that the game benefits.”
The Southern Region chairman, who was elected in December after years of involvement in area zone football structures, said leadership positions come and go, but the game remains.
“We are in the office today, but tomorrow someone else will take over,” he said.
“What must remain strong is the game itself. Football will still be played in this country whether Mtungwazi is chairman or not.”
He also extended an olive branch to those he contested against in the regional elections.
“Even those I competed with in the election should continue contributing to the development of football,” he said.
“We are not enemies. We are football people and we should combine our efforts to move the game forward.”
