Online Reporter
Inside ZIFA
Nqobile Magwizi
AS 2025 draws to a close, it is fitting to reflect on the journey Zimbabwean football has taken over the past year.
It has been a journey defined by renewal, strategic rebuilding and purposeful investment in sustainable development.
When I assumed office as president of the Zimbabwe Football Association early in January, I did so with humility and a deep sense of responsibility.
Zimbabwean football was filled with calls for stability, integrity and renewed confidence.
The mandate given to me and the ZIFA leadership team on January 25 was clear: We had to restore trust, build strong institutions and put Zimbabwean football back on a forward trajectory.
One of our first priorities was to strengthen governance and rebuild the institutional backbone of the association.
In line with this, we appointed a wide range of operational committees drawn from across the country, ensuring broad representation, depth of expertise and buy-in from all regions of our football family.
These committees — spanning competitions, development, finance, refereeing and strategic planning — are central to building a professional, accountable and responsive football administration.
We also took important steps to uphold basic governance principles.
Members of the executive, including myself, relinquished roles previously held in club or affiliate structures to avoid conflicts of interest.
This was a deliberate and necessary decision, setting a tone of transparency and compliance with good governance standards, both locally and internationally.
Building credible leadership
Strengthening the governance of domestic competitions has been equally critical.
Under our direction, ZIFA facilitated and led credible electoral processes for the Premier Soccer League, the Women’s Premier Soccer League, Futsal (five-a-side), beach football, provincial and regional football structures.
These elections were an important step in restoring confidence, legitimacy and stability across our leagues.
We also acted decisively to protect the integrity of competition.
When proposals emerged that threatened the principle of promotion and relegation, ZIFA stood firm.
Sporting merit must always be respected.
Promotion and relegation are not administrative inconveniences — they are fundamental to fairness, competitiveness and the credibility of the game.
The discussion is fruitful and all debate on strengthening the game is vital, but we should work to avoid creating loopholes that will bring the game backwards.
This year, Zimbabwean football gained a stronger and more confident voice on the international stage.
I was honoured to be appointed to the FIFA commercial and marketing advisory committee, a platform that contributes to shaping commercial strategy at the highest level of world football. This appointment reflects growing confidence in Zimbabwe’s leadership and offers opportunities to position our game more strategically within the global football ecosystem.
Such international engagement is not symbolic.
It opens pathways for partnerships, learning, investment and knowledge exchange that can directly benefit our associations, leagues, clubs and players.
Throughout 2025, we made deliberate efforts to leverage football as a tool for broader development and social impact.
Strategic partnerships, including collaborations focused on youth empowerment and gender equality, are helping us use the power of football to influence positive outcomes beyond the pitch.
Women’s football, in particular, has remained a key pillar of our development agenda.
Through structured competitions, leadership renewal and targeted partnerships, we continue to create space for women and girls to participate, lead and thrive in the game.
Professionalising match officials
A credible competition requires credible officiating.
This year, we took firm and sometimes difficult decisions to professionalise the refereeing space.
Where conduct and performance standards were not met, we acted — including suspensions where warranted.
These decisions were not punitive for their own sake, but corrective, sending a clear message that professionalism, integrity and accountability are non-negotiable in Zimbabwean football.
Commercial sustainability has been another major area of focus.
Through carefully structured partnerships, ZIFA successfully positioned the Warriors at the Africa Cup of Nations as the only team with an in-house kit brand — a bold and creative move that was widely celebrated by football fans and kit enthusiasts across the continent and beyond.
This initiative demonstrated what is possible when commercial strategy aligns with national identity and fan engagement.
We are also deeply grateful for the visible and practical support from His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, whose US$400 000 contribution towards the Warriors’ AFCON campaign ensured that the team travelled and prepared professionally, without the uncertainty and administrative challenges that have affected previous campaigns.
This support was not only financial; it was symbolic of renewed national confidence in football.
Challenges and the path ahead
No process of renewal is without its challenges.
One of the most difficult legacy issues we continue to confront is the matter of outstanding payments owed to individuals and service providers from previous administrations.
This situation has understandably created frustration and, at times, negatively affected the image of the association.
We have committed to addressing these obligations in a proactive, transparent and structured manner.
People who rendered services under contract deserve to be paid, and resolving these matters is essential to restoring trust and credibility.
How we deal with these challenges will define our integrity as a leadership.
I also wish to commend our Warriors for a brave and disciplined performance against Egypt in their opening Group B match at the Africa Cup of Nations, played fittingly on Unity Day, and for the 1-1 draw against Angola on Friday.
Losing 2–1 to Egypt in time added on was painful, but that pain is also instructive.
It speaks to how far we have travelled as a football nation to a place where we can compete toe-to-toe with Africa’s giants, where fine margins decide outcomes and where belief is steadily replacing resignation.
The draw against Angola means we go into the match against South Africa with everything still to play for.
We look forward to that derby.
As we close out the year, it is important to reaffirm that Zimbabwean football is on a clear structural trajectory — one built on governance, participation, development and strategic partnerships.
We have laid important foundations in 2025, but the work continues.
Strengthening youth football, empowering women’s football, stabilising institutions and deepening commercial sustainability remain priorities.
To all stakeholders — players, coaches, administrators, clubs, sponsors, supporters and partners — I thank you for your continued belief.
Your support fuels our commitment to a stronger, more competitive and more united Zimbabwean football.
Together, we will continue moving forward, because Zimbabwean football demands that we do so.
*Nqobile Magwizi is the president of ZIFA.
