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Grace Chingoma
Senior Sports Reporter
SportS, Recreation, Arts and Culture Minister Kirsty Coventry has made sport infrastructural development and rehabilitation her top mandate in her second term.
Coventry was sworn in by President Mnangagwa at State House in Harare yesterday.
She is also looking forward to finalising the three policies that she proposed during her first term and are at various stages of drafting into bills before they are passed into law.
The Cabinet has since approved the principles of the Proposed Sports Integrity Bill, which will deal with sports corruption if it becomes law.
The Sports Council policy is still at the drafting stage in the Attorney General’s office.
Speaking on the sidelines of the swearing ceremony at the State House yesterday, Minister Coventry said her main focus is now on upgrading sporting facilities infrastructure.
She added that her immediate goal is to make sure that the senior national soccer team, the Warriors play at home in their upcoming international matches.
She appeared to dispel suggestions that Zimbabwe is likely to play outside the country in November when they host Nigeria a week after travelling to Rwanda for their World Cup qualifiers.
“Has it been confirmed that we are playing outside?
“We have asked for them (CAF/FIFA) to come and inspect. We have already had conversations with honourable Mthuli (Ncube, Minister of Finance and Investment Promotion) about focus on the next few years of being more infrastructure.
“We need to get a whole bunch of policies corrected, which we now feel that we have done . . . now we will focus more on infrastructure development and rehabilitation.
“I think we have got a few (stadia) that we would like them (CAF/FIFA) to look at and we have already had very good conversations with them over the past few months as part of conversations and dialogue with FIFA before our suspension was lifted as well as after.
“I have had meetings with honourable Infantino (Gianni) the President of FIFA, so we are working very well together with the (Zifa) Normalisation Committee and it’s our goal to ensure that we play at home,” she said.
The Ministry in 2021 proposed a National Sports Council Structure that will restructure the current Sports Commission to ensure more efficiency, inclusivity and compliance by national sporting associations who will lead and govern them-selves under a structure that will have a 15 member board comprising of national associations members, Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, Paralympic Committee, Special Olympics leaders as well as Ministerial appointments.
The Ministry, through Parliament is in the process of repealing the Sports and Recreation Commission Act, which was created by an Act of Parliament Chapter 25:15 of 1991.
“The first five years, two of those years were Covid times for all of us but I am very proud of the team and the results that we have gotten. We have three policies, two with Sport and one with Youth sitting with the Attorney General waiting for the finalisations waiting for the draft bill.
“We are working on the fourth one for Arts, so I am happy to get to finish those. The policies that we have changed internally within sport I think is on a good wicket.
“We are moving forward with our soccer. We are hosting more tournaments, we are seeing our teams competing more across the globe, so we are very happy with that.
“I am just excited to be working for the next few years serving again with the teams and driving for the different sectors.
“The SRC Act which has to be repealed to enable the Council is with the Attorney’s General office. That is one of the two pieces of the legislation, so we have to wait for that to be drafted, it is a layman’s draft at the moment. It has to be drafted by the Attorney General and then we can proceed afterwards,” said Coventry.
The Minister said completing the legislative process as well as revamping sporting infrastructure are some of the high-lights of her new term.
“The new initiatives will all be getting through the finalisation of the three draft Bills that are with the Attorney General’s office. I would like to get those wrapped up and taken into Parliament and get them passed as well as a big focus on infrastructure,” she said.
The Minister also spoke on violence that occurred on Sunday at Barbourfields.
“I am sad that kind of behaviour was seen at a football game. We have had both those teams play over the past few years with no incidences so we will have to wait for the full report.
“I am waiting to hear the report from management, from both teams, to see exactly what it was, to see exactly what started the misbehaviour which was not very good to see so let me wait for the final report to what they believe would have been the cause of that behaviour,” she said.
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