Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIFA have moved in to ensure that all the players taking part in the inter-provincial BancABC Roots Impact Cup get to play the game by increasing the number of substitutions per game.
The watershed grassroots development initiative, which was launched early this year, is now in full throttle following the first bubble matches played in Masvingo, Bulawayo, and Harare last weekend.
Robust grassroots development remains one of the key pillars of ZIFA president Nqobile Magwizi’s vision since the time he won the right to lead the association in January 2025.
And a year later, that dream has come to pass with select Under-14 and Under-16 sides, for both girls and boys from all the 10 provinces in the country battling it out for supremacy in a national league which is being played in a bubble format.
While the teams are expected to be highly competitive at this stage, ZIFA have taken into account the need to expose every other young player, selected from all the provinces to the competition for their continuous development.
Some of the provinces who include Mashonaland East Under-16 boys coaches and their Harare girls’ and boys’ counterparts seemed not to have grasped the development thrust behind the Roots Impact programme and didn’t give a run out to all their squad players.
This sparked suspicions that some coaches sought to use the two days of action to “market” only players from their respective schools at the expense of affording every child selected a chance to showcase their potential.
It is against this background that ZIFA have quickly moved to nip the problem in the bud, and the soccer mother body has now decided to tweak the rules a bit to ensure all kids get to have game-time going further into the tournament.
In a statement, ZIFA said: “We have noted that some provinces are not fielding all their players, which is a bit concerning.
“Yes, this is competition, but the primary objective of this tournament is development. Players get to develop by being exposed to competitions like the BancABC Roots Impact Cup.
“We told the provinces that they should select their cream, and it is the finest 30 players in different age-groups who are now at this stage.
“That means all of them are almost at par; therefore, every player should be given an opportunity to showcase their talent and get to really develop,’’ ZIFA said.
“As ZIFA, we have now decided it is mandatory to have five substitutions by half-time breaks and the other five in the second half in order to ensure that all players get a chance to play.
“Across two games in every bubble, every player should play more than a quarter of a game. That is the spirit of development. We want to see every player selected and registered to have game time. Development is the objective of this tournament.”
All the players selected in the provinces have since been registered under the FIFA Connect system as ZIFA builds a database that has been absent from the association for over two decades.
And the players who will stand out during the inter-provincial games will be selected for junior national set-ups.
