ZIFA, under pressure to clean their image and spell out a clear vision for the revival of the national game will convene a no-holds-barred meeting in the capital next month which the association’s president Cuthbert Dube described an “introspection’’ into their shortcomings. The football mother body has been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons following the monumental failures by the Warriors and the Mighty Warriors to qualify for the African Cup of Nations and the African Women’s Championships respectively. It got worse with the Warriors’ embarrassing 3-2 aggregate defeat by Tanzania in the preliminary stage of the 2015 African Cup of Nations before the Mighty Warriors fell to Zambia in the Women’s championships finals after back to back 1-0 defeats by their northern neighbours. Those major setbacks torched a massive public outcry and calls for the revival of a viable junior policy to identify and nurture talent that should come through the Young Warriors ranks. A number of players that have of late featured for the Warriors were literally catapulted into the senior team without having gone through the national Under-20 and Under-23 teams as those sides have virtually been non-existent. With Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Andrew Langa also demanding an improvement in the way football is administered in the country, Dube said their strategic retreat scheduled for the weekend of July 25-27 would spell out new benchmarks that Zifa need to achieve in the short to long term. “We are going to have a meeting as Zifa, an introspection to see what it is and where we are getting it wrong, whether it is the secretariat, the board, the president and we will have to find ways and come up with a clear vision,’’ Dube said. Dube also stressed the need to revive the national Under-17 side among a raft of measures which he wants the association to implement in their bid to develop the game and improve on the governance of the game. In his report to the government on the state of football, Dube thanked Langa for facilitating the release of a US$80 000 grant by Treasury that assisted the Warriors during their African Nations Championships campaign in Cape Town, South Africa and also outlined key areas which he said his board wanted to now focus which include: General Administration Finance Marketing and Business development Development Facilities Equipment High Performance “Both the senior national men and women are out of 2014 and 2015 continental championships and even though we are all disappointed, focus now has to be set on under-age teams. “There is need to build a football continuum to mould all the national teams into perfect products and there is greater need now to invest in Under-15, Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23. “It is also important to note that the Under-17 and Under-20 boys’ teams were never banned from participating in Caf Youth competitions,’’ Dube said. The Zifa president also indicated that his association, saddled with a crippling US$5 million debt, had started slowly paying off their creditors and would engage consultants in order to come up with a viable strategic plan. “The Association is committed to servicing the growth and development of football in Zimbabwe. The Association is seized with retiring the US$5 million debt through a robust approach driven by competent and professional individuals. “The Zimbabwe Football Trust is also going to be reshuffled while the debt strategy will be adopted at the Zifa Assembly EGM on 26th July 2014. Debt servicing has already commenced and a debt servicing sub-committee under the finance committee is to be ratified by the assembly’’. The Zifa president also spoke of a plan which he believes will help them overcome their debt which has virtually hamstrung their operations and that proposal is based on: Austerity measures or reduction of costs through 5% savings on expenditure Increase income via revenue streams (ongoing) Restructuring of liabilities with creditors. Repayment of loans over a long period The loans can also be consolidated on. Raising more capital via investment in farming, mining, entertainment etc, obtaining grants from benefactors. Zifa Village to be turned into a business and Zifa to engage creditors on the waiver of the debts. Debt servicing project to see the Association’s debt of US$5million cleared by 2017. “We also propose to meet regularly with the parent Ministry and other stakeholders as part of building information highways.’’ Dube said his association, mandated to run the country’s flagship sport, would to continue lobbying the government to create tax incentives for corporate entities that would partner football and sport in general. “We request the Ministry to help us identify and secure land for the construction of Zifa offices and Technical centres,’’ Dube said.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 05:41:33 +0000
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