THIS IS MORE THAN JUST A DEMBARE DEBACLE

For me, this is more than just a failure by the Dynamos leadership. This is a failure of our entire football ecosystem. It’s a failure of the ZIFA leadership. It’s a failure of the PSL leadership. It’s a failure of our mainstream media. Together, we have let down the DeMbare players, coaches and fans.

VINCENT Chawonza is a nice guy.

And, so is Desmond Bvute and Divine Sena.

They are the Three Musketeers who are in charge of running the football beast, otherwise known as Dynamos, on a day-to-day basis.

They inherited a shell, disguised as a professional football club, when they came into office at the beginning of the year.

All the systems had collapsed and it’s fair to say that there were many social football clubs in this country, who had better systems than the Glamour Boys.

For the better part of the season, they flirted against relegation and their survival was only confirmed during the sunset of the campaign.

Of course, they won the country’s flagship knockout tournament.

But that is exactly what Darryn T did in 1992, that is what Tanganda did in 1993 and that is what Blackpool did in 1993.

All these clubs have since disappeared from our football ecosystem.

They have ceased to be part of the game’s geography and they are now just part of its history.

What this tells us is that winning our premier knockout tournament, which in essence requires just winning four games, including through penalty shootouts, isn’t a guarantee of stability.

Knockout tournaments, by their nature, are like the lottery.

Today’s generation of kids will probably understand it better if we say Kandege, and they know that there is always a thin line between boom and bust.

The five-goal humiliation by Scottland, in the season-opening Castle Challenge Cup was a brutal reminder of the shell, which DeMbare had become, and which should not be camouflaged by the Chibuku Super Cup success.

Into this mess walked Chawonza and his team.

It was such a circus that Dynamos didn’t even have tracksuits to wear for that Challenge Cup game.

And, the new executive had to scramble around, using personal finances, to get the kit in South Africa, on the eve of the match.

There was no money for simple logistics like transport, ahead of that game, let alone other key requirements like food for the players, camping costs and allowances.

There was nothing in the bank.

That was when they went to AfricaBet to ask for a loan to bail them out, which the company provided, before the two parties started to grow their relationship to be the partnership that it is today.

In the six months that have followed, Chawonza and his executive have given the Glamour Boys their competitive spirit again and DeMbare sit third on the table.

They were third from the bottom at this point of the season last year.

Dynamos have 45 points, from 25 games, eight adrift of champions Scottland, and six behind Hardrock, with a game in hand over the Kwekwe goldminers.

After 25 games last year, the Glamour Boys had just 26 points which means, in terms of value, they have added 19 points, they have won seven more games and lost nine fewer games.

On Monday, the lock will mark that Dynamos have not lost a league game in THREE months, with their last defeat coming on May 10 when they were beaten by a last-gasp penalty in the Harare Derby.

All that is progress and Chawonza and his leadership deserve the credit.

CHAWONZA SPOILS A BEAUTIFUL REPUTATION

But, for all the good work they have done, which probably deserves a 90 percent score if this was an examination, Chawonza knows that he messed up, in a big way, leading to DeMbare being barred from the CAF Confederation Cup.

He knows he has soiled a reputation he has worked so hard to build since he became the leader of the Glamour Boys.

He is the boss and the buck stops with him.

There is no excuse which can justify why Chawonza failed to find US$13,000 to settle the debt owed to Saul Chaminuka after the coach won his case at the Labour Court.

He can’t justify how he can, on one hand, find the money to secure the services of a foreign coach and on the other hand fail to find the money to pay off Chaminuka.

He can’t justify how he can, on one hand, find the money to bring in a raft of foreign players, and fund their stay here, and on the other hand fail to find the money to settle Chaminuka’s woes.

The irony for me is that the worst coach to ever take charge of Dynamos in its 63-year history, is the one who has cost the Glamour Boys in such a very big way.

Saul Chaminuka is a decent guy but hiring him to coach Dynamos was an aberration, a crime against common sense, a brazen attack on sound judgment and a flagrant display of foolishness, disguised as wisdom.

It was tantamount to a criminal act meant to reduce DeMbare into some Sunday League football club.

One win in ten games was the perfect harvest of thorns which the Glamour Boys deserved for this appointment, plucked from hell, which was always meant to end in tears.

But, you can’t blame Chaminuka for fighting for his rights, and winning his case, because these are labour matters and, as a human being, he deserves the protection of the law.

He won his case and he should have been paid his dues – it’s as simple as that.

Success has many fathers but failure only has orphans and, right now, Chawonza knows the true meaning of this phrase.

He knows it doesn’t reflect well that a team, which only last week flew to their league game in Kariba, can now tell the world that it couldn’t find just US$13,000 to save their Confederation Cup campaign.

There are many who have come up with judgments, including calling for Chawonza to resign and I can understand where they are coming from and I appreciate their fury.

But, I won’t be dragged down that path.

Chawonza has apologised for the boob and taken ownership of the failure to, ironically, deal with the easiest of the tasks in the file, on his desk, where issues related to Dynamos are kept.

He has done enough, so far, to deserve a second chance.

THIS IS MORE THAN JUST A DEMBARE DEBACLE

For me, the DeMbare Debacle is more than just three guys in the club’s executive failing to discharge their duties.

It’s more than Mudhara Marriot who, to his credit, has decided to take a back seat and let the executive run the show.

This is the failure of our entire football ecosystem and, here, I am also including myself.

ZIFA should also shoulder the blame for this mess.

When Dynamos are playing in the CAF Confederation Cup, they are representing ZIFA and, by extension, representing this country.

It ceases to be a simple club affair and it becomes a national affair.

ZIFA handle all the communications from CAF and FIFA and they knew that DeMbare were in real danger of being barred from the tournament, in the event they didn’t settle Chaminuka’s dues.

Surely, the association should have paid the money to settle this in-house issue, for the sake of our reputation as a football nation, and the need for participation in such tournaments to help in the development of our game.

Then, afterwards, ZIFA would have found means to get their money back from Dynamos – and there are many such avenues readily available.

The association gets a percentage of money which DeMbare generate from gate-takings.

And, if we were to calculate all the money which has come from the Glamour Boys into their coffers, just in the new millennium alone, the figures are huge.

Maybe, it would have been enough, by now, for Dynamos to buy a few properties.

That relationship should not be just one-way traffic.

During desperate times, as was the case when this Chaminuka issue was threatening to destroy Dynamos’ chances of playing in the CAF Confederation Cup, ZIFA should have stepped in and used their resources to resolve the issue.

After that, they would have just come up with a payment plan where, for instance, they would say that thirty percent of DeMbare’s gate-takings will not go towards servicing that debt.

The PSL also find themselves in the same bracket.

They are the football body which have benefited the most from regular income which comes from what DeMbare generates from the gates.

They have a moral obligation to help their biggest football club because, to be frank with them, without Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United, there won’t be any PSL to talk about.

The PSL leaders should also have bailed out Dynamos, paid the outstanding amount, and then come up with a payment plan of that debt, from the gate receipts, going forward.

The best deal would have been PSL paying half the amount, ZIFA paying the other half and the two bodies showing they care for the cow that is producing the milk.

The media is also to blame.

Why didn’t any of our journalists, and that includes me, not lay their hands on this story because, had it been reported a month or so ago, I’m pretty sure solutions would have been found.

This isn’t just a DeMbare failure.

It’s a national failure.

ZIFA, PSL and the mainstream media – we all failed the Dynamos players, coaches and fans.

So, before we clamour for Chawonza to go, let’s all look at ourselves in the mirror.

The image which will confront us is not one that we want to see.

To God Be The Glory

Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton, Daily Service, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all the Chakariboys still in the struggle.

Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!

Antoniooooooooooooo!

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