SHAME ON ZIFA ZIFA, even in their worst blunders in history, have really outdone themselves this time. The national team of Zimbabwe should never travel with eleven eligible players for a fixture, two of which are goalkeepers. Even if you add the player that was left behind, Hardlife Zvirekwi, after misplacing his passport in Nairobi, there is still NO excuse for a country’s prime football team to travel with 11 players and one substitute, who is a goalkeeper. Add the fact that the match in question is a World Cup Qualifier and you will not be blamed for expecting resignation letters from the entire Zifa leadership today. How does an association that has had world cup qualifier fixtures for well over a year explain their failure to send the national team to Guinea? How does Zifa fail to make noise about their inability to raise funds for the team to travel even with a month to go before the fixture? Yes Zifa have blamed the government (perhaps with good reason) for failing to assist the national team; yes the cooperate world has not been forthcoming with sponsorship for the Warriors but for this blunder, even these excuses are not good enough. It is inexplicable for the national association to be mum when the national team has no funds in place for an assignment as important as a world cup qualifier. It is shocking to give the media an itinerary that is false and not backed by financial resources with less than a week before the travel date. Instead of giving the media their travel plans with a full squad, Zifa should have told the media that the Warriors may fail to travel to Conakry because they did not have the money to fund the trip. With a few headlines, the government and the corporate sector would have most certainly felt enough shame over the development to chip in with enough resources to send a full squad. That three more players were sent to join that depleted squad in time for kick off yesterday does not absolve Zifa’s blame for this poor planning. The squad was disjointed, morally, physically and emotionally before they even kicked a ball. Even high schools make better plans before travelling for matches abroad. Some senior Zifa officials have in the past committed their personal resources to ensure the national team travels well. However, whereas that may look like a noble endeavour, it also emphasizes their failure to lead an organized association that gets funding for projects – especially the national team’s assignments. Zifa has been led by people of little means in the past but the national team has always managed to fulfill world cup qualifiers with full squad compliments. As a nation, we care little about a person’s wealth if they are to lead Zifa because it is not sustainable for someone to use their personal resources to fund a national team when their job is to help in the development of football from grassroots all the way to the various national teams. May this be the last time something like this happens. May the Warriors be treated like the most popular national team in the country – because that is what they are. Everything about this team should change, from selection criteria of players, planning of fixtures and travel plans – the general running of the team. And if people whose job it is to do that are incapable of putting some degree of respectable stability to the national soccer side, they should be honourable enough to give others a chance.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:24:50 +0000
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