Vusumuzi Dube
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
FRANCE-based Zimbabwean midfielder Marshall Munetsi has called on the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) and the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) to find common ground and bring the country back to international football.
With Zimbabwe approaching a full year of international football isolation, Munetsi has pleaded with powers that be to have sanity restored in the game.
“As we approach the next set of qualifiers, as football players we are reminded that our national teams remain banned from participating in any international assignments, this reminder cascades down to the fans as well.
“They can’t enjoy the national teams they love to watch playing. As things stand we continue to lose a generation of talented footballers because they do not have opportunities to showcase their talent during national team assignments,” Munetsi wrote on twitter.
“This situation continues to harm not only the future of football in the country but it is depriving the general community of the downstream benefits that football can bring to the social economy of the nation.
“I continue to implore the SRC and ZIFA urging all the parties involved to find common ground and come to an amicable solution that will allow our football to survive as we move into the future. Our football needs us to find each other and for us to move in one direction and speak with one voice. The participation of our country at major tournaments stands to benefit us more,” the midfielder pleaded.
Zimbabwe last played international football at last year’s Africa Cup of Nations held in Cameroon before world football governing body Fifa suspended the country’s membership following what they termed “third party interference” in the internal affairs of Zifa. This was after the ZRC suspended the Felton Kamambo led Zifa board in November 2021.
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Bongani Ndlovu