The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
NO doubt, the biggest, yet very sad news of the year that comes to an end tomorrow (Saturday) is the expulsion of Zimbabwe from the global football playing family.
In November last year, Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) president, Felton Kamambo and his entire executive were booted out by the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC), a Government body that controls sport in the country, after being accused of corruption, misadministration and sexual harassment of female match officials.
Three months later, Zimbabwe was expelled from the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers after the SRC refused to comply with a FIFA directive to reinstate these officials.
It remains unclear when Zimbabwe will play international football again.
Gerald Mlotshwa, head of the SRC, has made it clear that the country is not in a hurry to return to the global football playing family, insisting that the rot that had crept so deeply into the administration of the game, has to be dealt with first.
“The conditions that had been put forward by FIFA to avoid a ban were not in sync with what we at SRC had sought,” Mlotshwa said, insisting that time away from international football will breathe new life into Zimbabwean football.
“In a sense, the suspension – not a ban – has allowed everyone to focus on the reform process without the distraction of the (AFCON) qualifiers,” said Mlotshwa.
However, with funding from FIFA frozen, and the national team not playing, it could adversely affect the growth and interest in the game in the country.
Boxing
Kudakwashe ‘Take Money’ Chiwandire, who became the first female Zimbabwean boxer to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) Interim Championship Belt, brought smiles on the faces of many of the country’s success starved sports fans.
Even Deputy Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, Tino Machakaire aptly put her achievements into context when he said Chivandire’s victory signalled the defiant spirit of many women and girls in Zimbabwe.
“Kudakwashe`s victory also signals the defiant spirit of the many women and girls in Zimbabwe. It has been the ministry`s observation that the retention of females in sport from adolescence to adulthood remains a challenge within the country.
“This discontinuity in terms of participation by women in sport particularly combat sport such as boxing has largely been attributed to the architecture of community-level sport and its failure to accommodate women in its entire hierarchy due to cultural reservations.”
Machakaire enunciated to women that the journey to equal treatment, recognition and acceptance by society is continual and a day gone without a fight is a loss to everyone.
Cricket
On yet another positive development for sport in Zimbabwe in general and the game of cricket in particular, Zimbabwe secured their place at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 that was played in Australia.
However, the joy was short-lived as the Zimbabwe cricket team ended their ICC T20 World Cup Super 12 campaign on a disappointing note with a 71-run defeat at the hands of India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The thumping result meant Zimbabwe will have to go through qualification for the 2024 T20 World Cup after finishing bottom of their group, while India set up a semi-final clash with England.
Back home, the Mega Market Mountaineers were crowned 2022/23 Pro50 Championship winners after edging Rhinos by one run in the domestic cricket competition final played at Kwekwe Sports Club.
Soccer
Chisumbanje-based side, GreenFuel were promoted to the Premier Soccer League after winning the Eastern Region Soccer League Division One championship title.
The 5-0 thumping of hapless Surrey meant GreenFuel took their tally to an unassailable 66 points, 12 points clear of second-placed Mutare City Rovers, with four games remaining in the campaign.
Former Dynamos coach, Lloyd Mutasa, who guided GreenFuel, popularly known as the Ethanol Boys, to their maiden promotion to the PSL in his first season at the club was overjoyed at the prospect of returning to topflight football.
It was a hat-trick of Eastern Region Division One championships for Mutasa, who has previously led Highway and Kiglon to the top tier of Zimbabwean football.
More importantly for folks in Chipinge, it was the first time top-flight league football will be played in the district, let alone in the remote parts of the district.
In the domestic top-flight league, FC Platinum were crowned Castle Lager Premier Soccer League champions for the fourth successive season.
The title success was also of huge significance for FC Platinum as they have now joined giants, Highlanders and Dynamos as the only Zimbabwean clubs to have won four successive Premier Soccer League titles since the modern era of the domestic Premiership.
Meanwhile, the league triumph is coach, Norman Mapeza’s third with FC Platinum and fourth overall in his coaching career, since winning his maiden top-flight title with the now-defunct Monomotapa United in 2008.
Such were the highs and lows of the year 2022!
