admindoor label that read ‘Chief Immigration Officer’ dialed the air control tower and ordered them to stop the Jet Airways flight, to Mumbai, from leaving the airport.
It was around 5.30 am local time and, an hour earlier, I had arrived at the Bandaranayike International Airport in Colombo, terribly battered by lack of sleep, but still in good spirits to face the Sri Lanka leg of my 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup tour of duty.
About three hours earlier I had been in Mumbai, the bustling Indian commercial capital, whose slums gave the inspiration for the production of the smash hit feel-good movie Slumdog Millionaire.
Five minutes into the Barcelona/Arsenal Champions League showdown at the Nou Camp in the heart of Catalonia, my Jet Airways flight took off from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport for a two-hour short flight down south to Colombo, from where I was to proceed to Kandy, to link up with the Zimbabwe team.
I didn’t have a visa for Sri Lanka but I had made provisions, through all the logistics’ specialists you find at such World Cup events, and also through my own national team management, to get one at the point of entry in Colombo and had even sent all the necessary passport and citizenship details.
On arrival in Colombo I didn’t expect any problems but, as is always the case in Asia where English might prove a barrier rather than a medium for communication, trouble is never far away and when I was told that I needed to see the Immigration Officer to clarify a few issues, I never expected the worst.
Then the talking started, the majority of it in broken English you wondered whether the other party was hearing what you were saying, and every time I would explain a position only to be asked about the same issue again and, all the time, I was being reminded that I should have got my visa in Zimbabwe.
I kept saying that’s correct but I had also banked on the World Cup relaxations, which meant that things could be bent a little bit for accredited personnel, especially given that Sri Lanka didn’t have a diplomatic mission in Harare, to find my way there.
And all my consultations in India had come up with the same conclusion that they should be no problem as long as I sent my documents in advance.
So there I was in Colombo that morning, an isolated black face in a sea of Indians, trying to convince the interrogating group that I was a simple journalist, accredited by the International Cricket Council, on a simple mission to cover my team and, if in the process, I get to enjoy the local Sri Lanka local, then the better.
While there appeared to be some headway when it came to my dealings with the only guy in that panel, who was the most superior, the ladies were adamant that they should stick to the book and, what that entailed, was that I should be sent back on the same flight that had brought me to Colombo.
I tried calling all the Indian numbers, which work here, that I had in my phone, including the crucial call to team manager Lovemore Banda, but noone had told me that different rules apply here and, when you dialing an international number from Sri Lanka, you start with a one and then add the two zeros, or the plus, that come before the country code.
My whole trip had not gone well, from day one, and my luggage was still locked up somewhere in Johannesburg, I was still wearing the same clothes I had on me when I left Harare seven days earlier, my laptop had suffered a hardware glitch and I had been ill-treated in Mumbai when a delayed Jet Airways flight from Ahmedabad meant that I missed my initial flight to Colombo.
Attempts to find an escape route through the cyberspace was not providing the relief given the flood of messages, either from merry-making Liverpool fans with something to cheer their spirits after 21 years of wandering aimlessly in the Premiership or the Chelski fans somehow convinced that one dubious result, with the helping hand of a referee, translated to the fulfillment of a season.
Or the Gunners’ fans who, rightly, found a window of hope every time Manchester United faltered even when a review of their shortcomings, which include failure to beat Sunderland at home, should have been a timely reminder that concentrating on their domestic affairs was better than worrying about Old Trafford – its demise or otherwise.
So, after what looked like an age, it was apparently agreed that I had to take the same plane that had brought me to Colombo out of Sri Lanka and a call was made to the air traffic control tower and an order passed to the Jet Airways captain not to leave until I been loaded back on the plane.
I was about to be taken away when I played my last card, asking the senior chap to clarify this with his superiors and also check with both the ICC and Sri Lanka Cricket officials, when he picked up the phone again and, all I could hear was Zimbabwe, journalist, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and, oh, YES.
For the first time that morning, a smile emerged on his face, lighting up the handsome features that had apparently been concealed by either anger or a professional commitment to be blunt, and he picked up the phone again and dialed the air traffic control tower.
The Jet Airways flight, he said, could now be cleared to leave.
Then he turned to me, asked me to go into the next office, where my passport was stamped with a seven-day visa, to leave this island as soon as Zimbabwe’s last World Cup match is played, and – in five minutes since I had played my last card – my ordeal was over.
And, so, I entered Sri Lanka.
The Call To Mr Obert
Now that I could relax, I befriended a certain fellow, and in the next few minutes learnt a lot about making phone calls, about Sri Lanka, about Colombo and about Kandy where I was going.
I made a call to my friend back home in Harare, Obert Masvotore, asking him about what had happened in the Barca/Gunners game and I was hurt to learn that Arsenal had been knocked out for the second straight year by the same team.
Obert is a Manchester United man, as die-hard as Red Devils will ever come in this world, so when he told me that he felt the referee had given the Gunners a raw deal throughout the match, that the red card to Robin Van Persie was borderline and that Bendtner had blown a great chance to seal the tie on away goals rule, I felt for the Gunners.
I’m a Red Devil, through and through, but this job has panel beaten me to see the value of justice and when justice is denied to one team, even if that side is the one whose fans have been giving me a horrible time all week, I tend to have this ability to see beyond the barriers erected by our club affiliations.
I trusted Obert’s judgment and, having read all the analysis – including the Spanish media and British media views – I have to say that what we can’t deny is the fact that the Gunners were outplayed by Barcelona on the night and that they didn’t have a shot on target tells the entire story.
No shots on target tells the story of an alien game, a strange approach, something that until now had never happened in a football match, something that is not meant to be displayed at such a magnificent venue like the Camp Nou, something that was against everything Arsenal have seemingly represented, something that was ancient and plucked from the Dark Ages.
But you have to give them credit for finding a way to score, even if it was an own goal, for having the courage to tie the game at 1-1, for creating a good chance to win it on away goals, for conceding just three, including a penalty and a virtuoso goal by Messi, for finding a way to frustrate Barca who needed them to go to 10 men to find a way through.
It’s easy to be drowned in the waves of negativity pounding the Emirates as critics question how Wenger betrayed his football instincts at the big stage but it’s easy to forget that, had Bendter been blessed with Berbatov’s sublime control, and converted his chance, noone would be talking about negativity today.
The tragedy with football is that it never remembers the losers and, just like the mad men of Vegas who make a life chancing their luck on casinos and related stuff, the winner takes it all and, as super group Abba brilliantly put it in their hit song, the loser stands small.
If the Gunners had succeeded in a spectacular smash-and-grab exercise, and taken the loot from the Camp Nou, who would be talking about elegance today?
Everyone would be drowned in discussing what we usually say, during our good days when Chicharito has stolen a win for us in the last minute, that romance haina mwana wayakambozvara.
Barcelona are a super team, slowly scaling the heights of the great teams of the past like the AC Milan of Gullit and company or the Liverpool of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s or the Madrid of di Stefano, and as long as Messi keeps injury free, they will remain a class act because he can win games on his own.
But Barca are also helped by weak opposition on the home front, which meant that they could play a second-string side in their La Liga game at the weekend, which still won 1-0, while their real guns would remain fresh for the assault on the Gunners.
In contrast Arsenal can’t afford such luxury, because the English Premiership is competitive, and so Wenger sent his best men into battle against Sunderland on Saturday but, even then, could only get a draw at home.
The other thing which really blows me away is the seemingly growing trend in refereeing where all the decisions have to go Barca’s way to such an extend you end up believing that the match officials have also been charmed by the magic of the boys of the Camp Nou.
Remember the Barca/Chelski semi-final at Stamford Bridge?
Chelski are leading and Anelka skins Pique with a fine piece of skill, and if there is no foul, he will be face-to-face with the ‘keeper and game over.
Pique knows the situation and so he sacrifices himself, for his team, and deliberately blocks the ball with is hand, stopping Anelka’s move, hoping that the penalty that will materialise will probably be saved, you know like Suarez after him, and his team can remain in the game even if he is sent off.
But the referee somehow ignores the handball, Anelka doesn’t get his goal, Chelski don’t get their penalty, Pique somehow survives, Barca somehow survive and, with time running out, they attack one last time, Essien fails to clear and Iniesta fires home.
Game over!
Just like that?
Yeah, just like that.
Football, what a cruel game.
So Barca go all the way, they beat Man U 2-0 in the final and the winner takes it all, the losers stand small.
Noone talks about Chelski, about Anelka, about the fans who were cheated, about the referee who had a helping hand.
I accept defeat ladies and gentlemen, and I know Barca are brilliant, but imagine the possible effect of Messi being wrongly sent off?
That’s where I differ with the majority of critics who saw no evil, once a match is over, and are swept away by the tide of praise singing.
The Gunners were outplayed, yes, but they were not overrun.
There is a big difference in the two and it’s a credit to their resilience that they battled on, against a super team and against a referee who aided a team that didn’t need his help, and they deserve credit.
Unlike Real Madrid, they were not hammered for five without reply.
Chapters From The Harshest Critics
I read this piece, produced in an English newspaper, and said WOW!
“The harsh reality, though, is that Barca were not just superior but trounced Arsenal in every department of the game either side of the 55th-minute dismissal of Van Persie.
“Pep Guardiola’s Catalan giants dwarfed Arsenal in possession, goal attempts, passes, dribbles and touches of the ball.
‘Barcelona had 12 shots on target and five off target (one of them when Adriano hit the post). Arsenal had ZERO shots on target, ZERO shots off target.
“Leo Messi & Co touched the ball almost SEVEN times more than Arsenal inside the opposition’s half (685 to 105).
“They had 47 touches inside Arsenal’s box while the Gunners had TWO in Barca’s.
“Barcelona also had SIX times more passes in their rivals half (600 to Arsenal’s 104) and a much higher success percentage (88 to Arsenal’s 56). In terms of possession, Barca kept the ball for 27 minutes more than Arsenal (49 to 22).
“Another whopping fact for Wenger was that the top 10 successful passers inside the opposition half in the game were ALL Barcelona players.
“In other words, the man who passed the ball least for Barca (David Villa) had more passes inside Arsenal’s half (27) than Jack Wilshere who passed most for the visitors (15) inside the Catalans half.
“With Arsenal offering ZERO football it was no wonder it took a Barcelona player to score for the Gunners. Busquets headed into his own net to cancel out Messi’s opener and give Arsenal brief hope of an upset.
“With Arsenal down to 10 men, Barca’s superiority was even more evident and strikes from Xavi and Messi from the spot made it 4-3 on aggregate.
“Only one Gunners player had the right to feel proud – sub keeper Manuel Almunia who blocked FIVE one-on-ones against Villa and THREE against Messi.
“And he only played 72 minutes after coming on for the injured Wojciech Szczesny.”
Welcome Back Norman Takanyariwa Mapeza
One thing that I have learnt in this job is never to say never because things can change rapidly.
So, Norman Mapeza is back as coach of the Warriors after being given the mandate to negotiate the tough remaining passage of the 2012 Nations Cup qualifiers.
I was one of those who felt that Mapeza had been given a raw deal, when it came to the chaotic manner in which the technical committee had handled this assignment, leading to us donating those two points to Cape Verde in a game which we should have won.
Having said that I think going back and re-opening old wounds will not help our national game.
We all know what happened but what is important is to take a cue from Norman himself when he said that there is no need to dwell on the past and talk about all those who opposed him, even as he was humiliated 2-9 in a boardroom vote, because that will not help the team.
What is important is to build bridges because we are stronger, when we are united, than when we are divided.
The last thing we need is for others to go into their shell, put spanners into the works here and there, and wait for the team to lose in Mali and then come out with all guns blazing that we told you so.
Norman is a brave man and I admire him for his bravery. That he accepted to take the assignment to lead the team in a tricky away assignment against Liberia, where his troops played so well they deserved more than just a point for their enterprise, was the mark of a brave man.
That he accepted to also take the assignment to lead the team, in a very difficult away match against Mali in Bamako, where it has always been hard to win, is also a mark of a brave man.
Lesser souls would have hidden into their shell and waited for the easier home game against Liberia.
But Norman decided that if he has to take control of the team, he might as well plunge back into the business in the toughest manner possible with the back-to-back games against Mali coming on the way.
I know the critics can’t wait for the Mali game to be played and, hoping for a possible loss, will then seize the moment and turn all their guns on the young fellow and all the guys who backed his cause.
Of course, that’s normal, in any society.
The challenge is on Norman to prove those who doubt him wrong and, as everyone will tell you, it’s all about results and if he can go to Mali and get a good result, then he would have done wonders for his profile.
If Norman succeeds, he won’t be proving his critics wrong, but he would be doing it for his country, something which is far more important than trying to prove to this Tom and that Harry that he is good.
But what Norman can’t escape from, despite all the goodwill that he carries from ordinary Zimbabweans, is the fact that he will ultimately be judged by results and, when the game starts in Mali, the era of goodwill ends.
So he should make the best of the opportunity that as been presented to him because, even those who backed him, will turn against him if his team doesn’t deliver and the game against Mali is huge.
There is no need for us to be afraid.
After all Liberia, who are not as competitive a team as we are, went there and were unlucky to lose 1-2.
So let’s free ourselves from the demons that we can’t win because we know that we can do it and we know that we would have been in a better position by now if we hadn’t allowed our selfish interests to wreck havoc ahead of our match against Cape Verde.
Norman can’t work in isolation and it’s good that Joey Antipas has been given his job back as assistant national team coach but I also thought we should have spared a position for Madinda in that technical team.
I disagree with all those who shout loudest that Madinda was an absolute disaster with the CHAN squad.
I believe he did his best, in his first major tournament in charge of his national team, and if Archieford Gutu had converted his golden chance, after being put through one-on-one with the South African ‘keeper, it would have been a different story.
Rather than dump him I felt that we should have included him among the assistant coaches because he has picked some useful knowledge of these players during the time that he has been in charge.
We have to take the lead to bring back the unity in the national team and asking Madinda to continue in his old job as assistant coach, the post he had been offered when Tom Saintfiet was recruited, would have been a good starting point.
I always feel that Norman and Madinda can work very well together and what caused all the acrimony, in the lead up and in the post Cape Verde era, was the problem related to the fact that they didn’t know who was in charge.
Rather than being men who could take charge of the national team, they ended up turning into pawns who were being used to fight a Cold War, and it did not help to bind them into a unit.
But now that the roles are clearly spelt out, I believe that Madinda should be repaid for hanging on with the team, going on an assignment to Sudan where morale was low for one or two reasons, and – after all was said and done – coming home with the same 33.33% failure rate that we saw in Chidzambwa in Tunisia in 2004 and at CHAN in 2009 and in Mhlauri in Egypt in 2006.
Cuthbert Dube and Democracy
One of the issues that have come to the fore, in the aftermath of the announcement that Mapeza is now in charge of the Warriors, have centred on questions about democracy within the Zifa board.
Arguments have been raised about whether Cuthbert Dube, the Zifa boss, has turned into a board unto himself where he can make decisions when and where he wants to do so.
His pronouncement, in which he said he was taking charge of the national team from now on, appear to have been misinterpreted to mean that he will now seize the team and run it in his own fashion with little or no input from the others.
The Zifa constitution talks about democracy and how decision-making has to be the sum total of views from a number of members.
I love democracy.
I don’t know what happened in the last meeting but I gathered from my colleagues at the office back in Harare that a meeting was held by the presidium of Zifa, which consists Dube and his lieutenants Gumede and Marange, and a decision was made to pass the baton to Mapeza.
I remember that at the last Zifa board meeting, a decision was passed to let the presidium come up with a coach for the Warriors and comments generated from all the board members, in subsequent interviews for different news organizations, paint the same picture.
Then it was about Tom and in that presidium meeting, Dube lost 1-2 with Gumede and Marange voting to go in line with the recommendations of the technical committee.
So Tom passed the Zifa board test but failed the immigration test.
Once again it was passed to the presidium and they settled for Mhlauri but there were issues, which are central to decision-making, which derailed this move.
It’s a fact that Zifa don’t have money and most of their operations right now, whether they are to do with allowances for players or allowances and air tickets for board members going on foreign trips on association business, are being bankrolled from their president’s pockets.
My sources were telling me yesterday that even the salaries for the Zifa employees for this month were paid by their president from is personal finances.
I’m not saying that is the conducive operating environment but, because it’s happening and someone has to pay the cost, we have to use it in our analysis of events.
The point being that the same voices within the Zifa board that cry for democracy and influence, when it comes to the appointment of coaches, should also be there, with the same zeal, when it comes to taking care of the operational costs of the same teams.
You just can’t be active, when it comes to casting your vote, and then disappear when you are wanted to play a part in issues that are directly related to the vote that you cast.
You can’t say I want this and that coach, and probably get your wish, and when it comes to the travel arrangements, the allowances, the kits and everything related for that coach to execute his duties, you disappear from the scene.
When the situation is not normal, like our football situation right now, the expectation that democracy can prevail the way it does in normal situations like the English FA, is clearly misplaced.
My wish is to see the Zifa constitution changed so that the president of the association, who is the face of the organisation, gets more powers in handling the Warriors and all the national teams.
The presidency of Zifa, in terms of success or failure, will forever be measured by the performance of the Warriors and, because of that, I feel it is only fair to give such a man, or woman, enough rope to hang himself.
We might spend 50 years talking about democracy but it’s a fact of life that noone remembers who were holding the other posts when it comes to Zifa and the time has come for them to say goodbye and give way to another leadership.
If you think the Indian curries have turned me into a madman in the past two weeks then just try this simple experiment.
Who was the secretary-general when John Madzima was the Zifa boss? Chances are that few people still remember that.
Who were the committee members? Chances are that noone remembers that.
Virtually everyone remembers Nelson Chirwa but noone cares to remember who worked under him.
You meet people in the streets and they tell you ‘Zifa ya Chirwa yanga yakapenga blazo.’
You know, it’s about the man who is in charge who shapes the association in his own way.
You meet people in the street and they talk about Trevor Carelse-Juul, about Leo Mugabe, about Rafik Khan and about Wellington Nyatanga.
It’s never about Phil Hwata, who was secretary-general along the way, or John Nkathazo or whoever worked down the ladder in the board.
Lazarus “DeMbare” Mhurushomana, who made a name as a hardworking administrator at the Zifa offices and who is trying to build his football academy in Chitungwiza, had a bigger profile than most of the board members.
So much about democracy.
Waiona?
Building Bridges
Our football has suffered a lot from polarisation and, sadly, this has also filtered through to the fans who are now divided.
At The Herald, having become conscious of our position of influence in terms of helping heal the wounds, we championed a deliberate policy to support Madinda, irrespective of his results, during his CHAN mission.
We might not have agreed with the decision to give him the job but we supported him because he was there as our representative.
Crucially, Madinda also responded very well and did not waste time looking into the past and decided to walk with us.
Now our challenge to our football leaders is to also take a cue from that so that we have a Zifa board that presents a united front.
It has been a tough first year for them but let’s give them a chance and maybe we will see the true value that Benedict Moyo has for the game.
I have embraced Bla Ben, did that a long time ago, and we have found a way to move on and there has been a lot of respect, in either direction, since then.
We have started to understand each other better and the end result has been a good working relationship.
The Zifa board members don’t need to keep working under the threat of a national media that is ready to pounce on them at every turn, and whenever they make a mistake.
They want to feel free, so that they can take time to deliberate on issues, and come up with the best possible solution.
Others have been so critical as to suggest that this might be the worst Zifa board but I believe that is not true, neither by a mile nor a foot.
Yes, they might have had a tough first year but the future looks good for them and the challenge is on them finding strength in their differences.
Fall Of The Warriors
I realised this week that the Warriors have plunged to number 127 in the world, their worst ranking to date. They have gone down almost 20 places in the past year alone. Food for thought, isn’t it, about what makes us plunge down the rankings?
Thank You FC Platinum
One of the good things that happened to our football, in the era post cross-rates and all the stuff, has been the emergence of teams who come into the Premiership standing on a solid financial ground backed by companies.
In the past we have had everyone who makes a few dollars trying to form his team and, when that little window of money-making closes, the team collapses.
Now we have Blue Ribbon Foods having their own team in the Premiership, Chicken Inn having their own team and, of course, FC Platinum.
We are back to the ’80s when most of the teams were either owned by mines, municipalities or by companies.
Rio Tinto, Gweru United of the Pisa Pisa fame, Mhangura, Bata Power, Ziscosteel, they were all on solid financial foundations.
Now we have FC Platinum, who have bought some of the best players in the domestic Premiership, and want to run a model professional club that will be the envy of most of the teams.
Their ceremony, to officially unveil the club, was first-class and the pictures of players in designer suits was just the tonic that our league needed to show the sponsors that we are moving in the right direction.
Already FC Platinum appear to have attracted a lot of enemies because of their fat cheque book and they are being called all sorts of names, including Zimbabwe Select, and there are many who will like them to fail.
But I want them to be a success story because they are important to this game and they have given our players respect, by giving them a decent signing-on fee good enough to buy themselves a house in Kuwadzana, and a monthly salary good enough to keep their families happy.
True friends of the domestic Premiership will celebrate if FC Platinum succeed because this club represents what our football should be all about.
Thank you for coming along guys and thanks a lot for your investment in the game. That’s all our players want.
Saying Of The Week
A discussion is an exchange of knowledge. An argument is an exchange of ignorance – Zwananai Dhlakama, Manchester United At Club Level, Melbourne, Australia
What Next For United?
It has been a tough time for every United fan and we have to admit that we were poor against Liverpool and deserved that beating.
But we have always been a club that knows how to find its way back into the light and, boy oh boy, trust me on this one. We are down, which is a good thing when you are top of the log, and still in there for a treble.
You gotta bank on Fergie to get it right.
I do.
Chicharitooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Come on United!!!
Text Feedback – (+94716822076)
Email – [email protected] or [email protected]
You can interact with Robson Sharuko in Facebook, Twitter or Skype
Please note this column is now found in the BLOGS section of the online edition of The Saturday Herald and not in Sport.
Online Reporter