adminBothwell Mahlengwe
WHEN Minister Mzembi announced his 2034 World Cup dream, I was reminded of Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream speech” of August 28 1963.
Then, within months of such a declaration, the same man, now together with Minister Langa, came back with an even bolder and ambitious dream, which is to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals.
Within days, they then held a joint Press conference to announce that they had met President Mugabe and he had given them his approval for the country to submit their bid.
I acknowledged Mzembi’s zeal to put “the totality of the Zimbabwean brand under the spotlight”.
I also agreed with him when he said, “it calls for the support of the entire nation that’s why we sought the backing of the President.”
I, however, had reservations when he mentioned that, “I’m subscribed to various platforms and networks and I can tell you we have the entire backing of the public. Zimbabwe wants this.”
As one who is not in the same boat with Mzembi and Langa, I imagined what I would have told the President about our soccer and why we don’t deserve to host the 2017 African Cup of Nations finals.
Firstly, I would tell him that the last time the Warriors qualified for such finals was in 2006 and we have been on a free-fall since then.
In our recent attempt to qualify for the 2015 AFCON finals, we were knocked out by little Tanzania in the preliminary qualifying first round.
ZIFA then disbanded the Warriors and fired the technical team.
That was in June and we have had no mention of the Warriors or a substantive coach.
As usual we haven’t had any friendly matches during international break.
However, there is one that was hastily arranged next Tuesday against our intended bed-mates, Botswana.
After our disappointing AFCON exit, a ZIFA strategic retreat, whose yet-to-be seen strategic blueprint purportedly focussed on revamping our junior football development, followed.
The last time we had about our Young Warriors was in 2012 when they failed to fulfil reverse fixtures against Congo Brazzaville and Angola.
The reason given was lack of resources.
As for the Under-23 side, I can’t remember the last time they played in any competition.
Literally, we don’t have any men’s national team to talk about — whether junior or senior.
It’s not a secret that ZIFA is facing serious financial challenges with debts close to US$5 million, including US$650 000 from when we played Brazil in a friendly.
The second issue is on stadiums to be used during that tournament.
As I write, we don’t have even a single one that is ready.
The National Sports Stadium, Rufaro and Barbourfields meet the minimum CAF requirements but Rufaro needs a new playing surface and B/F needs media facilities.
Other stadiums like Gwanzura, Luveve and Sakubva will need major facelifts to meet CAF standards.
Unfortunately, this is money that the country does not have.
Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, speaking at the Zimpapers-sponsored IMF breakfast meeting recently, said the nation does not have even a drop in reserves where, ordinarily, we should have at least three months cover.
I also believe his ministry should have been consulted and he will be forgiven for having reservations to put scarce resources to a hastily-organised AFCON bid.
My take is he would find it difficult to fit this bid in the entirety of ZIM-ASSET as a whole.
The third issue is on CAF’s Article 32, which stipulates that the host country must have previously staged at least one of the various major African football tournaments.
Unfortunately, we haven’t staged any and that this makes us ineligible unless we make a joint bid with a suitable suitor.
The big question is, “Are we that desperate?”
Can’t we have a proper plan that incorporates staging some of the required tournaments like what Rwanda did? They built a track record through staging the 2009 African Youth Championships as well as the 2011 African under-17 Championship. They will be hosting the 2016 CHAN tournament.
We have tried Zambia and they said NO. Now, we have turned to Botswana.
And if I may ask for their track record? There’s none. They are still raw.
It seems we are grabbing any neighbour who looks interested.
The deadline date for submission of bids for the 2017 AFCON finals is the 30th of September 2014. Sudan and Ghana are the only countries to have submitted their bids by end of business day on Friday last week.
Of note was the impressive-looking technical committee they set up for the bid.
Whilst Ghana, a country that hosted the tournament six years ago, is treating the bidding process with seriousness, urgency and importance it deserves, we are still to set up a committee to spearhead our intended bid.
It is also worth noting that Egypt and Algeria have made known their intentions to submit their bids with Egypt having been expected to do so by close of business on Wednesday.
These two countries have a big edge over us.
Clearly, our bid is doomed before we even table it. I understand all dreams are worth pursuing. This one, I feel, is merely to nurse our egos.
I personally feel there is a better and systematic way of fulfilling Mzembi’s dreams. The first and more honourable thing to do is to sort out the mess in our football, revamp our junior football structures.
We then get our Warriors back to the giant they used to be, fit our infrastructural development into the national economic development strategy of the day, stage the pre-requisite tournaments.
Then we can, on our own, bid for the AFCON, followed by the World Cup. Let’s earn our stripes. That way, we can confidently and proudly put “the totality of brand Zimbabwe under the spotlight.”
I respect and admire Minister Mzembi for the work he has done so far to spruce up the image of our country.
His work is commendable.
However, not all dreams are achieved in the dreamer’s time.
The good thing is you have showed us that we can dream, and we can dream big.
It’s my opinion and I am divinely entitled to it.
Bothwell Mahlengwe is a banker and former Premiership footballer and can be contacted, for feedback, on the email – [email protected]
Online Reporter