adminWHAT gives human beings the drive to push on most of the times is hope — for a better tomorrow, a better life. My hope in football was that one day Zifa would find someone who would make them accountable. My hope was that difficult questions would be asked, questions which everyone in the game has asked or is asking at some platform — ranging from indoors to outdoors.
That day came on the eve of Valentine’s Day.
The Zifa board that had missed not less than three requests to appear before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Sport finally came and stood before the Committee.
What a day, I thought — a day of grilling, a day of reckoning, a day when the chickens were coming home to roost, a day I expected Zifa to account for all the decay that has characterised our beautiful game.
My hope was that the Zifa board were going to be exposed for all their contribution to the decay of our national game in the last four years.
My hope lay in the composition of the Committee — competent and seasoned former sports administrators with a huge bias to football.
But, to my surprise, only a few questions were asked, only MP Ray Kazembe seemed ready to take Zifa on and, the result, is that association and the leaders were provided with a soft-landing and a route to escape public scrutiny by our representatives in Parliament.
To imagine that these are the same MPs we entrusted, to speak on behalf of the voiceless, and who promised us that they will represent us very well, made this whole episode so disturbing.
Parliament is the only body that can tear into Zifa without fear of Fifa intervening and talking about Government influence.
Unfortunately, our legislators became numb, joined the voiceless and asked just a few questions. Why, I wonder?
Was it because some of the MPs have past relationships with the Zifa board and, instead of speaking for the people, decided to respect their past relationship? Maybe those who have worked for Zifa before should have recused themselves from that hearing.
How I wish the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee that grilled the NSSA executives was the same that grilled Zifa.
To quote The Herald of the 25th of February 2014, the committee asked “when Matiza (NSSA general manager) would resign…”
Those are the guts I expected the committee on Sport to have, to ask the Zifa board when they were all going to resign — for failing this soccer loving nation.
But it didn’t happen.
However, we will help them with a few hard questions that the Zifa board, especially its leadership headed by Cuthbert Dube, should answer.
Dr. J.C. Maxwell says, “everything rises and falls on leadership.” On this one, nothing rose, it all plummeted.
STRATEGIC PLAN
You promised a “functional strategic plan which should spell out our vision, values, mission statement and road map to excellence.” Mr Zifa President, did this document see the light of the day? If so, what did it spell out? Are we on the “road map to excellence?” It’s not surprising that this document was never consummated and without it we were doomed from day one. Even the Bible says, “where there is no vision, people perish.”
It seems Zifa is always in a reactive mode, functioning in a haphazard fashion, and sometimes on autopilot. To pick from your words, you accelerated the “free slide to self-destruction” of our game due to the “absence of a functional strategic plan.”
SENIOR NATIONAL TEAM AND DEVELOPMENTAL SIDES
You promised better, and delivered otherwise. In the history of our football, post-independence, you are the first board to preside over a term where two junior national teams failed to fulfil matches having playing the home leg. The senior team didn’t qualify for any meaningful tournament. Everything was characterised by “poor preparations, inconsistent technical systems, poor funding and disastrous travelling arrangements.” Again, I am borrowing from your manifesto. Even the promising Ian Gorowa doesn’t have a contract to date. How then do you expect our national team, as you promised us four years ago, to “reclaim their status of olden days” as a “regional powerhouse?”
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
It was refreshing when you said you were going on a warpath against match-fixing and ‘unearthed’ the infamous Asiagate. But, immediately, the board exposed its incompetence vis-à-vis corporate governance issues. The way the whole drama unfolded, the investigations, the prosecution and the punishment was ‘Mafia-style’. Zifa became the complainant, investigating officer, prosecutor, the judge and the jury.
You could tell that old scores were being settled. Even Fifa saw that and refused to endorse the sanctions. Unfortunately, livelihoods had been destroyed. GuthrieZhokinyu and Edmore Sibanda’s careers were cut short in an instant. Many others have their careers in limbo. Just imagine if it was your brother or your son. Why don’t you swallow your pride and accept your mistakes, learn from them and move forward? Give these young men their lives back. Or start the whole process all over again, only that this time, you follow the procedures laid down by Fifa.
Asking for meetings with Fifa won’t help otherwise they would think you are insane. Remember Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing and expecting a different result.” Imagine that Centralgate happened under your nose and members of your Board were deemed culprits. This clearly showed weak systems of governance. How then will you rid our beautiful game of corruption if your own Board is tainted?
MARKETING, SPONSORSHIP AND PARTNERSHIPS
You promised to unveil “a Marketing Plan for the Association.” If there was no Strategic Plan, who would dream of a mere Marketing Plan? It’s clear there is no such plan because the image of the Association hasn’t improved and rather it’s soiled. Soiled here, and even soiled at Fifa, due to utterances from the Zifa Office.
It is obvious that, with such a soiled image, no one would want to go to bed with you. Consequently, Zifa has no sponsor. Even kit sponsors haven’t been coming forth. Puma refused after some ambush courtship. The only consolation was the last-minute coming of Umbro, and this has to do with Gorowa’s charm and connections, for the CHAN tournament. Imagine how compromised an association would be when it’s national team head coach goes to broker a kit deal for them? That’s what is called skewed corporate governance. Who went on to brand the Zifa CEO “a liar and unprofessional?”
We have had the Warriors Trust as your only trusted partner but recently one of its key members admitted the current Trust as non-existent. How do you expect anyone to partner Zifa against such a depressing background?
ACCOMMODATION
You promised a new home, in your manifesto, for Zifa headquarters, “where a state-of-the-art House of Zifa shall be built.” Four years later we still have our old one at 53 Livingstone Avenue, where Nelson Chirwa used to work from. My understanding is you haven’t had any meeting. Leaders should be seen at their organisation’s offices, especially the headquarters, they should also be seen at football matches.
FINANCES
You promised to put order in the Association’s finances. What we have is a debt of over US$5 million ballooning from under US$1 million when you came into office. And who is the main creditor — everybody’s guess. Is this the order you were talking of?
Mr Zifa President, this ship has no direction and is sinking fast. It needs real leadership. Unfortunately, the tide is unrelenting and we have no time. My advice — just leave the job to others to try and save this ship. Every Zimbabwean deserves his chance to serve football.
Bothwell Mahlwenge is a banker and former Premiership footballer. He can be contacted, for feedback, at — [email protected].
Online Reporter