Playing football again! Mutasa on Zimbabwe way forward

THE chairman of the Fifa-appointed normalisation committee Lincoln Mutasa says there will be a continuation of the work that the Zifa secretariat has been doing.

He said they would not have a fresh start.

Mutasa, a former Dynamos player and chairman was appointed alongside former Mighty Warriors coach and player, Rosemary Mugadza, former AmaZulu and Highlanders FC defender Sikhumbuzo Ndebele, who is a member of the British Sports Lawyers Association and legal practitioner Nyasha Tashinga Sanyamandwe.

Normalisation committees play an essential role in ensuring compliance with Fifa regulatory requirements up to the handing over to a legitimately elected executive committee.

Speaking after the unveiling of the committee, Mutasa said they will be building from the foundation which is already in place.

“I think the previous executive started the Fifa sort of recommended process of doing job evaluations and things like that, and that could be a starting point for us.

“We will just carry on. I don’t think we are going to start on a totally clean plate. We are going to build on the foundation laid by those before us.

“We are actually coming into an existing secretariat although our committee will try and make sure we have brought in a capable team of Zifa administrators (elections) and still think the team below them should be a well-oiled machine,” said Mutasa.

Mutasa also spoke on how he got the motivation to be involved in restoring normalcy in the local game.

“A year ago during the World Cup, I was in Mutare at the DSTV shop and l was standing in a queue with a group of youngsters, l asked them why are you not going to Sakubva to watch football and they said why would we go to watch people who can’t go anywhere. That touched me. At that moment l resolved that l want to contribute to get the country playing football again,” said Mutasa.

His committee will run Zifa affairs until June 30 next year.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe will know their next opponents in international football when the official draw for the Fifa World Cup 2026 African qualifiers is conducted in Cote d’Ivoire today.

According to a statement from CAF yesterday, the draw will be live on CAF digital platforms at 6pm a few hours after the 45th CAF Ordinary Assembly that will also be held in Abidjan.

The Warriors will be in Pot 4 along with Mozambique, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tanzania, Central African Republic, Malawi and Libya.

Zimbabwe have been out of action since February 2022 due to a FIFA suspension. But the country bounced back to the international football family following the lifting of the suspension on Monday evening, just in time for the World Cup draw.

CAF has announced a new format for the qualifiers of the 2026 Fifa World Cup, following the decision by Fifa to increase Africa’s quota from five to nine direct tickets.

The new format will see the 54 member associations divided into nine groups of six teams each.

Winners of each group will automatically qualify for the Fifa World Cup 2026 to be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. The four best runners-up (from the Groups) will play in a CAF Play-off tournament.

The winner of the CAF Play-off Tournament will play in the FIFA Play-off Tournament.

The World Cup qualifiers are set to begin in November.

The qualifiers are scheduled to start later this year, with the opening two rounds of matches scheduled between November 13-21, while the third and fourth match days are scheduled for June 2024.— @innocentskizoe.