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Lovemore Dube, recently in Victoria Falls
THE Zimbabwe Football Association will soon come up with a training module on illegal betting and match-fixing to educate players and referees in the country at all levels. This was said by Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze at the end of a three-day Train the Trainer Workshop organised by Cosafa and Interpol in Victoria Falls.
According to Mashingaidze, the training programme to kick off early next year would help restore or protect the integrity of the game.
The Zifa chief executive officer said it was imperative for players and referees to appreciate the kind of approaches that could compromise the heart and soul of the game.
“We are going to draw up a training module for use locally in the next three months and hopefully before the 2014 season starts, we will be rolling it out. Our intentions are to have training programmes for Premier Soccer League clubs up to Area Zone, juniors will not be left out as they are as vulnerable as senior players who tend to realise that they did not make as much from the game.
These could take the opportunity if approached to make a few bucks to cushion them in changed lifestyle when they return and there is no longer regular income coming the player’s way,” said Mashingaidze.
Mashingaidze said it was important that the national association at some stage addresses those fears with the national team. The Warriors, made up of locally based players, will take part in the finals of the Chan tournament in South Africa in early January.
He described such tournaments as a haven for match-fixers and prayed that the hosts would also put up mechanisms to ensure the evil was weeded out.
“Those people are sophisticated and are good at their game. They take competitions such as the Chan tournament as a great opportunity to corrupt the gullible players and referees,” said Mashingaidze.
Zimbabwe were the second African country to play host to the Cosafa/Interpol ‘Train the Trainer’ Integrity in Sport Workshop after South Africa last week.
Mashingaidze described the workshop as quite educative and was happy that administrators and referees Felix Tangawarima and Brighton Mudzamiri had also attended.
He alluded to the fact raised by Zifa vice-president Ndumiso Gumede earlier that corruption in the sport bordered around players and referees.
“The vice-president was dead right. We have to target our efforts on all players and referees. If referees went about their job with due diligence, they would pick up some bizarre instances in matches,” said Mashingaidze.
In an earlier presentation at the workshop on Monday, Gumede said the job of match-fixers was quite complex as they wanted to bet on a number of situations in the game like who would concede the first corner kick.
Footballers Union of Zimbabwe president Desmond Maringwa, said match-fixing could be weeded out if all stakeholders worked together. He described the workshop as a way forward and was eager to impart to his constituency warning signs and different approaches by fixers.
Maringwa, a Dynamos legend, said such workshops should be held on a regular basis with the audience being all stakeholders.
“It is good we were from different backgrounds at the workshop and I hope we will all go back and make a difference to a game full of people who emphasise on integrity as a central part of the game,” said Maringwa.
Mudzamiri, the only Zimbabwean referee to officiate at the World Cup finals, was happy with the workshop. He said he had learnt a lot and was looking forward to training referees to recognise approaches, resist and report all those trying to corrupt match officials.
It was noted at the workshop that match-fixing was primarily for a desired result for a sporting cause such as winning tournaments and championships or monetary benefit.
Julie Norris of Ireland, a psychologist by training now working for Interpol, headed the facilitators and showed a good knowledge of the subject and the tact to deal with participants who were all eager to ensure they learn as much about match-fixing.
The international professional footballers union has come up with a career fund.
This is a fund aimed at providing a financial bridge between the end of football and a new career after retirement. It helps them prepare for life outside the game which more often is not as rosy.
The idea is about taking responsibility by those in the game to prevent social and finance problems for former players.
Zimbabwe’s reputation was thrown into the mud from 2007 to 2010 when the Warriors played to fixed results in Europe and Asia and were handsomely rewarded though the biggest chunk is alleged to have been taken by officials.
Almost 100 people were found to have been part of the trips.
There were also calls at the workshop by Norris for countries to have sport specific crimes to deal with illegal betting and match-fixing.
Online Reporter