Zifa elections on tomorrow

Lovemore Dube Senior Sports Editor
THE Zifa elections take place tomorrow with two contrasting scenarios of continuity and dire need for change as four candidates vie for the hottest seat in the local game. Incumbent Cuthbert Dube is up against Leslie Gwindi, Nigel Munyati and Trevor Carelse-Juul, three gentlemen who have had a fair measure of success in the game.

Dube would like to mop up his work of four years while the three are responding to calls for a change in the leadership of the sport.

By virtue of being the sitting president Dube has the system including secretariat favouring him to return. The future looks uncertain for full time staffers as some have been fingered for the wrongs done by the present administration. It ranges from a non-existent human resources policy to near incompetency with so many decisions made returning to haunt the national association such as Asiagate and Centralgate, cases that have taken longer than their welcome.

So many people have been left bruised by the two and also the image of the game has suffered as the handling has left so much to be desired.
In the end it has appeared as if some individuals were targeted for elimination through such.

Many employees have been fired at Zifa in the last four years than in the previous 30 years of the association’s existence. This points to a problem at 53 Livingstone and the principals.

Dube has scored some successes worth noting like bringing to an end the trips to Asia and Europe where national teams were allegedly paid to lose matches. This hit on the heart and soul of the game as soccer promotes Fair Play.

While he inherited the Zifa Village from previous administrations, the ground covered in the last three years has been impressive. It is the manner in which developments there have progressed and the financial aspect handled that he shone in as money was paid direct to the contractors.
In the past the money came through the Zifa accounts where it was diverted to cater for the national teams and secretariat salaries.

His successes with Chan this year also won him admirers as it was the first time in a continental tournament that Zimbabwe has gone as far as the semi-finals.
But Chan is not the real deal. Dube and his lieutenants failed to qualify for two consecutive Africa Cup of Nations finals – the 2012 and 2013 games. He could not make it to the World Cup finals which are a true reflection of success for any sitting president.

The soccer family has remained deeply divided with those pro-Dube enjoying fruits of their association. Those that have dared to have different opinions to his administration have been dealt with drastically and thrown into the game’s dustbins.
On the way forward Dube would have to work on uniting the soccer family and doing away with camps.

He was found wanting in attracting sponsorship to the game. His campaign team has been going around clubs with the 2010 manifesto showing voters what they achieved and what they failed in like sponsorship as work in progress.

There was so much expectation when he came in that he would turn around the fortunes of the local game with sponsors trampling on each other to fund soccer. Having failed to attract sponsorship, Dube was found having to sacrifice his own resources.

While thousands of coaches were trained, there was no co-ordinated development path involving schools, tertiary institutions, sponsors and the national association.
One of his challengers, Gwindi needs no introduction. He was secretary-general when Dynamos reached the Champions League cup final in the late 1990s. He went on to have a good spell as PSL secretary-general. After close to a decade of banishment from the game, the fiery administrator bounced back with a bang as chairman of Harare City one of the league’s most entertaining teams.  The club is so well-run that cases of industrial action have not been a feature at the Harare Municipality-funded side.

His talk exudes so much confidence and hope for the game’s future.
But Kenny Mubaiwa’s crashing defeat in the PSL elections, 12-3 to Twine Phiri has left many convinced that it might not be the right time for Gwindi. They argue he has the brains, age on his side but needs to go back to the drawing board and do away with the militant approach towards Dube and those that he has clashed with before. He needs to build bridges, talk peace and development.  Gwindi has passion for the game especially its governance and has been the only one to ask sponsors to up the stakes publicly.

Munyati the other candidate in the race, has been in the game since 1972 when he won the Harare Under-14 title with an area zone side. He rose to play for Black Aces and the shortlived Rio Dairibord and when duty called for his return to the game, he bounced back as Aces Academy founder with Marc Duvillard. He had a spell with the now defunct Black Aces where he also was chairman.

With stars like Khama Billiat, Knowledge Musona, Daryl Nyandoro, Licoln Zvasiya, Abbas Amidu and Silas Nyongani, Munyati has proven that investing in development pays. He has shown that success in soccer is not an accident but a clearly set path with results and no short cuts taken.

He understands the game, he loves it and still has a burning desire to achieve after working in the Dube administration which he said stiffled his positive input into the game.

Munyati told the media that he was not happy with the negativity associated with the Puma deal he was bringing to Zimbabwe football. It would have earned the local game over $500,000 but some seemingly felt he was probably positioning himself to take over from Dube – come election time.

Juul, an award-winning construction mogul has emerged as a dark horse in this race. Many have in the last week warmed up to his charm and football talk which promises a lot for the future.

He has asserted himself as a true football solution among the candidates and has not had running battles with Dube. He is coming as a fresh man all keen to play a part in the development of the brand and has all week been humming taking football to football.

The last time the National Sports Stadium was filled by a national team game was during his Dream Team era. Soccer became the local religion unifying Zimbabweans across geographical lines with people flying and driving to regional capitals to watch brand Warriors.

He says while that could have been a dream he wants to move to reality where people will go back to stadia, sponsors will come back to the game and there will be engagement of those owed the $5 million plus by Zifa and involvement of government and other soccer bodies towards a healthy financial position for Zifa.
The former Arcadia, Bulawayo Wanderers and Dynamos coach believes footballers should be given a role to play in the game.

His dream is to see the FA Cup returning and the Warriors going to the World Cup.
So far he has been the only one to talk about achieving on the soccer field and liquidating Zifa debts.

The vice-president’s post will feature Omega Sibanda. He is the chairman of the local player agents’ organisation and is a city businessman who made his name in the entertainment sector.

Sibanda has been around for a while and has worked in a number of capacities for Highlanders and Zifa. He is a good public relations person and would probably help the association in that regard.

Elkanah Dube is going head to head with his Highlanders counterpart in vying to deputise whoever wins. An educationist of repute who has been involved in the last five national elections, Dube commands respect across the board.

He has won medals in several capacities with Highlanders in basketball and soccer and is in the club’s board of directors.
Dube is a good and principled administrator many hope will support the winning candidate with good administrative principles and invite a job evaluation exercise and ensure all tasks at Zifa have a manual.

Five men have set their eyes on winning the four slots left for board members. There is John Phiri who has been a board member and other than accompanying Zifa secretariat members and Dube here and there, he has not made a big enough impact to warrant another stint.
He is a former footballer.

There is Bernard Gwarada, a player agent whose company Led, is among many owed thousands of dollars by Zifa.
Tavengwa Hara, a veteran administrator in which the PSL invested in his education last year, deserves another term to impart what he learnt at the high level course in Kenya. It would be talent and money gone down the drain if Hara is not involved on a national scale.

Francis Zimunya, a veteran of the game as a player, coach manager and club owner is in the race too as is Gladmore Muzambi a respected former international soccer referee.