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Zifa has failed to get the national teams from the juniors, the Mighty Warriors and the Warriors to have any of their matches played outside Harare.
This has led to most soccer loving fans from other areas to think that the national soccer teams only belong to Harare.
In an interview on Thursday while enroute to Botswana where the Warriors held Zebras to a goalless draw, Mapeza said he did not mind having some of the matches played outside Harare.
“This is a national team and as a coach I do not mind having some of the games played outside Harare. It will be good for our soccer if Zifa can take some of the national soccer teams’ matches to areas outside the capital so that everyone owns the national soccer team.
“We can have some friendly matches in Mutare, here in Bulawayo or even Hwange so that people from other parts of the country can witness the national team in action,” said Mapeza.
Last season saw Mbada Diamonds Cup matches involving big teams being played in areas like Chiredzi, Hippo Valley and Kariba in a move meant to spread football to all corners of Zimbabwe.
The onus is now on Zifa to see to it that they walk the talk and start taking the game of football, especially the national teams, to other areas.
With the Afcon 2013 and the Brazil 2014 World Cup qualifiers and a number of friendly matches being lined up for the Warriors, expectations are high that Zifa will bring some matches to places like Barbourfields
Stadium in Bulawayo.
Repeated efforts to get a comment from the Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze on the possibility of taking some national team games outside Harare were fruitless as his mobile phone continuously rang without being answered.
In November last year, Mashingaidze told this publication that Botswana had agreed to come and play Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. However there were changes late last year and the two teams clashed at Botswana University Stadium on Saturday.
“We have to prepare for the next Afcon as well as embrace preparations for the Brazil 2014 World Cup. We are serious about the campaigns and that is why we have already bagged two games against Botswana.
“Remember Botswana are not pushovers as they were among the first to qualify for the 2012 Afcon finals and it shows that they are a good side.
“We are going to play them before they leave for the Afcon finals on 8 January and then they have agreed to come and play us at Barbourfields Stadium,” Mashingaidze was quoted as saying then.
In the past, Barbourfields played host to some Under-17, 20 and 23 matches as well as Cosafa Senior Challenge matches.
In 2007, Zifa brought the dead rubber Afcon qualifier match against Malawi to Bulawayo which the Warriors won 3-1.
Mapeza was in charge of that game and he fielded a youthful side comprising locally-based players.
At the weekend he also had Zimbabwe-based players for the Botswana tie and they delivered results which might see some out of the foreign based being overlooked for future assignments.
Barbourfields Stadium meets Fifa requirements to play host to international matches and countries can fly straight to Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport. There are also upmarket hotels that have accommodated visiting teams.
For the World Cup qualifiers, Zimbabwe was drawn in Group G with Egypt, Guinea and the winner between Mozambique and the Comoros Islands.
The Warriors start their campaign for the World Cup finals with a home encounter against Guinea on 1 June.
Guinea is the only nation in Group G that made it for this year’s Afcon finals.
If Zifa desires for the Warriors to do better in the World Cup qualifiers, they will need to utilise Fifa calendar dates and organise friendly matches in advance which will help the team to shape up for their qualifiers.
The Warriors coach needs resources to travel to countries where there are Zimbabwean players to assess their performance.
Online Reporter