MUSHONGA WANTS TO HELP SHAPE NEW ZIFA

Don Makanyanga

Zimpapers Sports Hub

ASPIRING ZIFA board member, Sweeney Mushonga, believes there is need for unity of purpose from the incoming board to ensure that the country’s football brand grows to be a force to reckon with on the international stage.

Mushonga, who has been part of the leadership of the ZIFA Northern Region for more than a decade, feels there is a need for unity of purpose among the new board and all football stakeholders.

“It is incumbent upon the members who are coming in, right from the top to all the members in the board, to work together, to have that collective unit, to have that unity of purpose so that we can push the agenda of ZIFA forward.

“The agenda of ZIFA is enshrined in the Constitution hence we are not reinventing the wheel, we are not starting anything that’s not in the book.

“We only have to focus on what is required for ZIFA to go forward. I believe we’ve been lagging behind,” said Mushonga.

He believes that his involvement in football over the years will play a key role in the turnaround of Zimbabwe football as he targets rebranding the country’s football image.

“I have worked with Gunners and we made sure it became a formidable club. I have worked at the Northern Region Soccer League and we were able to rebrand the NRSL to have a new image which could attract sponsors, to attract funding.

“Football is all about image, it’s all about perception, so we need to do our things correctly, we need to focus, we need to understand what is required.

“We have the capacity to rebrand ZIFA.”

Mushonga added:

“We need to be able to work with all stakeholders across the board. It is our responsibility to make sure that we bring in a new ZIFA, a new ZIFA which talks to our stakeholders.

“A new ZIFA, which speaks to all our situation, which is alive to what is required by the people and raises the product of our game going forward.

“It is a collective responsibility that I am up for and I believe the new people that are coming on board will also share the same vision.”