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I have often wondered what I would have done if I was not hitting the keyboard day in day out, wondering how this world would be without journalism. I guess it would have been meaningless, just like what this world would have been without art. Just come to think of a world without singers, dancers, actors, etc, and even soccer players, because sport in essence is an art.
Modern day critics have accused the young journalism generation of prostituting the noble profession by allowing the sector to the polarised, engaging in cheque book journalism and blatant biased reporting, or simply uninformed writing, whose tracks we often see in sports pages in various newspapers.
The truth in this field of ours is that the old adage, he who pays the piper calls the tune, defines who we are and who we work for, because every newspaper has its editorial policy, vision and mission statement.
But things change a bit and get relaxed when we turn to the sports pages because that is where we can all agree, whether we are Muslims or Christians, prophets or sangomas, straight or gay, male or female. The great Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt, does not need to put adverts and hold rallies to be the world’s fastest sprinter because we see him outpacing everyone on the track!
That lanky Dynamos forward, Roderick Mutuma, popularly known as Kanu in the southern parts of the country because of his tall and slender body like the Nigerian legend, does not need to campaign to win the PSL Golden Boot because the world saw him outscore everyone in the league!
But such simple issues have been handled differently by the media and you find guys arguing on who should take the Golden Boot winner because someone wants to change the goal posts and include or exclude goals from a particular competition to tailor make the award for someone. Such kind of nonsense has characterised the Sports Writers Association for a long time, with rules being changed or tailor-made at the eleventh hour to suite a particular player or coach so that he gets the award or does not get it.
Some members of the association do not see eye to eye because of grudges from selection meetings and can hardly share a glass of beer or juice. And it even gets worse when some trade blows in the meeting, not because of the passion for the job they are entrusted to do by the sponsors, their respective employers and the soccer loving public, no; because they are suspiciously corrupt and would have most likely made promises to their friends that they would be selected come rain, come sunshine.
And you cannot blame those who have lost faith in us as journalists because we have disappointed our employers, sponsors and the public before by coming up with a dubious list of soccer stars that no soccer follower can relate to. Even in league or cup games, at times we come up with a strange man of the match, and people leave the stadium asking what that player was doing at the centre of the field with sponsors and journalists after the game, and when you say he was receiving the man of the match award, they burst into a laughter. They ask us which match we have been watching. I have been asked that question twice this season.
We cannot blame our readers for losing faith in us because we have copied the devils of British journalism who think their opinions matter most throughout the world, no wonder they think Wayne Rooney can become the next Pele or Maradona.
We have abandoned the tenets of simple journalism of reporting facts and tended to opinionate every piece such that instead of being informative on a match, player, coach or referee, it comes more of bidding or character assassination more than anything else. At times we abuse our journalism privilege so blatantly that we look like fools who believe readers are fools too!
This is not to suggest that SWAZ and other journalists out there are always offside. No, there are times when we get things right and dutifully serve the nation and we should go back to the archives and have a re-look at those works and stick to that formula.
I felt like doing a self assessment of our profession where like any other, there are angels and sinners, but it’s those bad apples who make us get painted with the same brush because people do not go about saying our individuals names, they cover us with one blanket and say journalists are like this and even those who cover politics, business and the juicy stuff in B-Metro, suffer collateral damage because they are part of us.
The self-assessment is very important at this stage when most of the guys who cover sport, soccer to be precise meet in Harare to choose the best players for the season. It used to be a big thing to be part of the selection team and everyone would be proud of the outcome, but as time went on, we got to see strange names appearing on some pieces of paper and then started wondering what kind of a journalist thinks there is a player called “Chamu Kapenya” in the PSL?
Cracks began to emerge in the organisation with some people literally going into selection meetings to do bidding for players from their villages, neighbourhoods and favourite teams. We began to notice block voting based on regional lines when selectors behaved like Members of Parliament representing constituencies. A guy from Harare would feel undone when there are more players on the calendar from Bulawayo more than from the capital, a guy from Hwange, Gweru, Masvingo and Zvishavane will feel undone when there is no player from their home town and they would literally cut deals before the selection meeting, remember the election of the Speaker of Parliament fairytale where you give and take?
But the public would know who should be on the calendar and they raise objections when the list is not what they expected although generally, some things appear given. For example this season, no one will be surprised even if there are two players from the small town of Zvishavane on the calendar because FC Platinum had a good run and finished second on the log, the same sentiments will go with champions Dynamos, but eyebrows will be raised if you have three players from a team like Highlanders which finished seventh.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that soccer stars should be chosen basing on the position of the team on the log standings. No, they are chosen on individual merit but that should not defy logic. If I may ask, can we have the soccer star of the year coming from relegated Zimbabwe Saints? I don’t think so. It would be a scandal, so to speak, for a relegated team to provide the best player in the league. But what about a player in the final eleven, yes, a player like Ntokozo Tshuma was outstanding throughout his stay at Saints and had he finished the season in Bulawayo, whether Saints were relegated or not, he was likely to be on the calendar, but when he moved back to FC Platinum, he did not get much game time as he often came on from the bench which obviously affected his game and influence.
Nonetheless, today’s selection will be a milestone in that the sponsors, Castle Lager and PSL have added other stakeholders into the selection panel. All PSL coaches will join journalists as they try to come up with the best players for the season. ZIFA technical director Nelson Matongorere will lead a panel of coaches in choosing the Coach of the Year and instead of journalists thumb sucking and writing the first name that comes to mind, the Referee of the Year will be chosen based on match assessors’ reports.
The change should give the public some fresh air, although the referees, because of their conduct this season which was questionable leading to Zifa inviting match officials from South Africa and Zambia for the Mbada Diamonds Cup, should have been omitted this time around.
We hope the coaches will give balance to the whole set up, praying that they will also rise to the occasion and understand that this is a national service and remove the blinkers they have that the best players are in their individual teams. To us the media, it was our fault that the whole prestigious selection process is no longer hundred percent in our control, as a result of bickering among ourselves.
And as a parting shot, it’s a pity that reigning Soccer Star of the Year Charles Sibanda, the FC Platinum talisman, will not be considered because of the disciplinary case he had, otherwise, he had done well to deserve having his name among the best performers this year again. The panel from all PSL clubs, two representatives from the Football Union of Zimbabwe and PSL coaches meet today in
Harare to select those who excelled in the beautiful game and may sanity prevail and good luck to all players, coaches and referees.
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Online Reporter