Online Reporter
Petros Kausiyo-Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIFA have reached out to the Government, corporate world and the football family due to rising costs of kick-starting their audacious Dream2030 bid, in which they will send five national teams on different international assignments.
In a rare feat by the football association, ZIFA have committed to partake in five assignments inside a month, headlined by the Warriors’ 2027 Africa Cup of Nations Group E qualification opener against Sierra Leone in Casablanca, Morrocco on September 24.
The Mighty Warriors will also return from several months of inactivity with a quest for a place at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
There will also be a hive of activity in the Young Warriors, with the men’s Under-23 also facing Mauritius in a bid to qualify for the Olympics while the Boys and Girls Under 15 teams head to Uzbekistan for a junior World Cup scheduled for October 22-31.
ZIFA General Secretary Yvonne Manwa, however, told Zimpapers Sports Hub yesterday that her association have had to seek assistance to the game’s stakeholders in order to fulfil the international assignments, which are key to the development of the game.
Manwa acknowledged that ZIFA’s coffers would not be adequate to meet their bid to have senior and junior national teams meeting their international obligations.
ZIFA have since last year identified a development pathway that is anchored on building strong Boys and Girls Under-15 sides, which would guarantee sustainability in the long-term vision to have competitive national teams.
Sandwiched between the senior teams’ assignments and the Under-15s will be the Under-23, Under-20 and Under-17 sides’ games.
“We have committed to having our national teams participating in these key competitions, which will help in the development of football in the country and which is in line with the Dream2030, which we believe is attainable and could see us finally secure qualification for the World Cup,’’ Manwa said.
“The fixtures are, however, coming at the same time and we appeal to corporates, the Government, individuals and everyone who loves football to spare a dollar for the national teams for these important assignments’’.
ZIFA recently unveiled coaches for all national teams, and Manwa said the mentors had been given latitude in their squad selections.
However, the delicate schedules associated with flying around Africa has not helped ZIFA’s cause.
“Because we want to give every Zimbabwean a chance to play for his or her country, we have not limited the coaches from casting their net wider.
“This has also meant that there is a huge contingent of foreign-based players across all national teams who will need to fly in for their training camps before the teams themselves go out for their different assignments.
“We have some players coming from as far as Australia, Europe and the Americas.
“So, we are saying if you can charter a plane for us, buy air tickets for the teams, pay for their camping or offer the accommodation facilities, please chip in and make a difference for the good of football,’’ Manwa said.
Warriors coach Ramon Catala has already set the ball rolling by naming a 31-member provisional squad that also has 10 players from the domestic Premiership.
Mighty Warriors’ Croatian coach Stella Gotal, mindful of the tough task that awaits her as she starts her Zimbabwe journey with the Women’s team against World Cup-bound Malawi, is also set to unveil a squad laced with a host of foreign based players from across the globe. Marc Sanchez, tasked with guiding the Under-23 side, has also been hard at work analysing the young talent with the potential to fight for the Zimbabwe badge from within and outside the country’s borders.
Sanchez and his assistant Wilson Mutekede are also due to unpack Zimbabwe’s first Under-23 side, seven years after the class of 2019 suffered a humiliating 5-0 aggregate drubbing by South Africa in September of that year in a CAF Under-23 AFCON qualifier.
ZIFA’s five away assignments:
Warriors: AFCON 2027 qualifier vs Sierra Leone, Casablanca, September 24
Mighty Warriors: 2028 Olympics qualifiers v Malawi, Malawi, October 9
Under-23 Men: Olympic qualifiers vs Mauritius, Mauritius, October 6
Boys U15: Junior World Cup, Uzbekistan: October 22-31
Girls U15: Junior World Cup, Uzbekistan: October 22-31
