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The draw for the final of the qualifier of the 2013 African Cup of Nations finals which was held in South Africa on Thursday, which saw the Warriors being paired with Angola, was another interesting topic for football fans. However, the story that took the cup was the announcement that Knowledge Musona has quit the Warriors, barely two years after donning the national colours.
In the two years that the world has watched his stature grow, he played 12 times for the senior team, (including friendly matches) scoring nine goals — a fantastic record by any standards.
However, the Germany-based striker, who was loaned to a lower division club, FC Augsburg by the club that bought him from Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa, TSG Hoffenheim amid so much excitement last July, said he was no longer interested in serving the nation because Zifa CEO, Jonathan Mashingaidze claimed he could have been part of the match-fixing scam after he was spotted with teammates allegedly coming from meeting former Zifa boss Henrietta Rushwaya, accused by the association of being the mastermind of the Asiagate match-fixing scandal.
The Warriors key striker wants a public apology from the national association and wants the association to retract its statement with the world football governing body, Fifa, so that he can reconsider playing for the national team.
That is the price that he is demanding “to restore his ego”, albeit at the danger of disappointing 14 million Zimbabweans who want to see him on the pitch, leading the Warriors from the front.
There were sentiments during the week that the striker would not have lost anything if he had made his demands to Zifa, but still continued being part of the team because in any case, he played for the Warriors and scored the priceless goal against Burundi that propelled the country to the last round of next year’s qualifiers a few days after being accused of wrong- doing. So what has changed now?
You tend not to resist giving an ear to those who claim that the player could have unwittingly got himself mired in Zifa power struggles at the expense of his career, as national team caps are very important for any footballer who wants to be taken seriously in international football.
Without taking anything away from what the player has done for the country and of course for his growing profile, you tend to believe those who think he should be aware by now, that football politics will always remain part of the game and his role is to play football and not to be misread to be trying to be part of the pawns in the power struggle.
There are power struggles at Zifa which are well documented and it’s clear that he is not on the side of the sitting executive by virtue of the public spat that is there for everyone to see. He is not the only player to have been accused of being part of match-fixing and many others are still waiting for their fate from the Independent Ethics Committee after being suspended, yet he was not suspended, so why is he so worked up?, asked one caller during the week.
So many people out there, who are sympathetic to the sitting Zifa board, I must say, claim the player has entered a fight where there are certainly no spoils for him. If there is public outcry against the Cuthbert Dube-led executive and football structures decide they no longer want the executive when election time comes, what does Musona stand to benefit? I think nothing, but some people who are against Dube and his executive will celebrate and some of the ammunition to kill the Dube executive would have come from Musona.
This is not to say Zifa CEO Mashingaidze handled the matter well, NO. The matter could have been handled in a different manner, especially a few days before a crunch national team match.
Mashingaidze should not have rushed to the media and Fifa with the damning accusations against Musona and his cronies, Thomas Sweswe and Zhaimu Jambo, but should have first instituted in-house investigations to ascertain what really transpired on the day in question, argued some football people. The players were not banned from associating with anyone, Asiagate tainted or not, and we want to give the players the benefit of doubt, because it is the accuser (Zifa) who must prove any wrongdoing, and say the players did not see anything wrong with meeting Rushwaya, if ever they met her.
But of course, the Zifa spin doctor, as Mashingaidze has been called in some media circles, also wanted to strike the iron while it was still hot and “protect the forthcoming game from any forms of corruption”.
It’s a dicey kind of situation that people will interpret differently, depending on who they want to believe, but quitting national team duty is certainly not a kind way of seeking recourse.
Musona who turned 22 last month, this week wrote through his lawyer Misheck Hogwe, to Mashingaidze informing the football association of his intentions to quit the national team until he has been cleared by an “investigation”.
“Meanwhile, our client has instructed us to advise your good office that he shall not be available for selection for duty with the Warriors pending ‘investigations’, which apparently have not commenced to date (since he has not been interviewed).
“In the event that our client is cleared by any investigation(s), he would only be available for national duty on the following conditions:
That your good office proffers an unequivocal apology and ensures that such apology is given equal or better prominence in the media.
That your good office communicates in writing with Fifa confirming our client’s clearance and furnish us with a copy of such communication. Our client has adopted the foregoing position on account of the immeasurable and probably not so reparable damage the grave allegations will potentially have to his career advancement if the matter is not disposed of expeditiously,” read part of the letter.
Musona felt let down by Zifa after the association went public with its claims without giving him an audience to give his account of events.
We hope for the good of the game, the matter will be settled before we play Angola in a must-win home tie on 21 September.
In fact, the whole Asiagate story should have come to its logical conclusion by then so that the nation focuses on one common goal — qualifying for the 2013 Afcon finals to be played in South Africa. The finals will come barely a month after this year’s tournament after Caf changed the calendar, adopting odd numbers in years to hold the event, although it will still be played at two-year intervals.
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