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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
ZIFA vice-president Omega Sibanda has saluted President Mugabe for giving the country the nod to go ahead and bid to host the 2017 Nations Cup finals.
Sibanda also hailed Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Andrew Langa and Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi for the front-line role they are playing to bring the 2017 Nations Cup finals to this country.
The two ministers have been playing a leading role to get the vital Government backing needed to host the flagship football tournament on the continent and on Thursday discussed the issue with President Mugabe at State House.
They emerged from the meeting to announce that President Mugabe had granted them the nod to go ahead with their ambitious plans to host the 2017 Nations Cup finals.
“It’s a massive step forward for us that we have now been able to get the guarantees from President Mugabe that he is backing our bid to host the tournament,” said Sibanda.
“The two ministers have worked tirelessly in a project that they really believe will work wonders for this country if we win the bid and, as the football leadership, it is only fair that we should salute them for what they have done.
“We have to salute the President’s decision because it blows wind into our sails and from now we just have to go full throttle and I’m certain that something positive will come out of our bid.”
Sibanda also hailed the two ministers for the big role they were playing in putting together Zimbabwe’s bid to host the Nations Cup finals.
“I would like to thank our minister of Sport, honourable Langa, for the grand efforts that he is putting in to ensure that we have a bid that will compete favourably with whoever is going to battle against us in our quest to host the 2017 Afcon finals,” said Sibanda.
“I would also like to thank the minister of Tourism, honourable Mzembi, who has been a very strong voice in telling the nation that we can put together a good bid to host the tournament and has been working tirelessly towards that.
“The Government also need to be thanked for backing the bid through the grand efforts of our sports minister and his tourism counterpart,
“I met our Sports minister yesterday (Thursday) and he briefed me of what he has been doing and he is a man who has worked very hard and he deserves to be saluted for spending a lot of hours in service to this nation, pursuing this dream that we can also host the 2017 Afcon tournament.
“Minister Langa is a hard-working man and just the right man that we need as our overall leader in terms of all the sports disciplines in this country because he is a man who puts the interests of the country first and wants to leave a legacy and make a difference and I think we should all support him for trying to bring a smile to our football.”
The Zifa vice-president said it was pleasing to note that all the Government arms were in full support of the 2017 Nations Cup bid and, together working as a united nation, nothing was impossible.
He added it was also refreshing to see the support that was now being given to football by key people in Government, led by President Mugabe, who has given his endorsement for the country to go ahead and bid to host the 2017 Nations Cup.
“I think what is satisfying from everything that has been happening related to our bid for the 2017 Afcon tournament is that we have been receiving incredible support, as football, from all the key arms of Government to go ahead and do something very good for our country,” said Sibanda.
“There has been an acknowledgement that football is a key sporting discipline in this country and it’s good that all our partners in this country are ready, right now, to help the game in this big mission to win the bid.
“This can only be just a start of a united front by this country to ensure that everything that we do in football becomes a success and I think we will be singing the same song when our Young Warriors start their Olympic Games qualifiers, with the whole nation backing them.
“We certainly have a minister who has shown that he will always be there to help us, even playing a leading role if we ask him to do that, and that can only augur well for our future.
“If we win the bid, it will be a huge boost for everything in this country because the benefits will be felt in all facets of our life. Tourism will get its rewards, our facilities will be improved and by hosting other nations we will show the world that we have a nation that is ticking and in good shape.”
Sibanda said the African Union Sports Council Region Five Under-20 Youth Games will be a huge boost for Bulawayo.
“The city will benefit immensely and we are all excited about the Games coming here and. In terms of football, we will have an improvement to our facilities because Barbourfields and Luveve are being renovated and that can only be good for our game,” said Sibanda.
Online Reporter