Spare a thought for football’s future stars

Innocent Kurira

FORMER winger and Young Flying Stars director Collin Nyambiya was forced to jump onto the field of play to rescue the ball boys as missiles rained onto the pitch during an abandoned league match between Dynamos and Highlanders on Sunday. 

The eight-ball boys, who belong to Nyambiya’s academy, were forced to seek refuge in the Dynamos changing room amid the violence triggered by Highlanders fans occupying the Soweto stand. 

Nyambiya described the violence as traumatising for the youngsters. 

“It was an ugly sight for our football. We bring these kids to these matches so that they watch their role models so that they get inspired. It’s a dream for these boys to play for either of the two teams. I can tell you the boys were eager to watch the game. 

“Some support Highlanders and some Dynamos, they were all thrilled to be part of the game. However, acts of violence like what happened on Sunday can have a devastating impact on the boys. For some who are multi-talented, this may be the last we see of them as they may choose rather more civilised sport codes. You could see boys were traumatised in that dressing room not knowing what is going to happen and if their safety was guaranteed. These young boys do not deserve to go through that. These are our future stars and they should see the good side of football not what we saw yesterday.

“Football should be a family sport and fans must respect that if our football is to grow. The game should never be about fighting,” said Nyambiya. 

Nyambiya was a right winger for the Railstars team that won many admirers in Bulawayo for their beautiful brand of football as he was among the providers for Mulenga Chewe and Morgan Chenga. He quit the game in 2010, having also turned out for Ziscosteel and Shabanie Mine. 

He also had a brief stint in Albania with F.C Bylis. In 2009-10, he emerged as the top scorer for Botswana’s Boteti Young Fighters, with 10 goals. At present, he runs an Academy known as Flying Stars, a project that is trying to produce and nurture talent in the city. 

Just after warm-up, the Dynamos and Highlanders security departments handed a banner to the veteran duo of DeMbare’s Denver Mukamba and Bosso’s Rahman Kutsanzira. 

The message on the banner was a simple one: “No to violence, no to pitch invasion.” 

Mukamba and Kutsanzira were asked to move around with the banner so that the important message reaches every fan in the stadium. Sanity only prevailed for 38 minutes before Kieth Madera appeared to have fouled McKinnon Mushore in the box and Bosso fans who thought a penalty should have been given to them went berserk. 

Bosso fans housed at the Soweto end invaded the pitch and Police details tried to stop them with no success.