The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
FOOTBALL was in a mess and the decision to face FIFA expulsion was the best thing ever to happen to the country’s best supported sport, the Zifa Restructuring Committee has been told.
In her contribution during the fact finding consultative meeting held at Chancellor Junior School today (Saturday), long time women football administrator and former player Cecilia Gambe said there was no point of pandering to the whims of FIFA for the sake of keeping on participating in international competitions and earn the country nothing but humiliation.
Gambe urged the Restructuring Committee to carry on with its mandate in earnest and good faith.
She bemoaned the lack of respect towards women football since independence.
“It is sad that we have gone through humiliating moments as a nation and some of us as individuals all because of our love for the game of football. We just want to urge the Restructuring Committee to stand its ground, carry on with its mandate in earnest and good faith. When we get over this phase we should emerge a better force to reckon with.
“I say this with a heavy heart coming from women football where we have never been accorded any respect and recognition and yet our achievements are the for all to see. Our girls at national team level have done resoundingly well but all they get is peanuts. Why not accord us the respect we deserve and we also make the nation proud?
“Imagine a player being given US$5 after not only representing the nation but having represented well. Talk of the boys, they will demand US$10 000 each before kicking the ball. This is where we have been getting things wrong as a nation and as football leadership. In other words, in football, we were going nowhere too fast as a nation,” said the outspoken Sakubva born and bred football administrator Gambe.
In his response, the Zifa Restructuring Committee stand-in chairperson Tommy Sithole thanked the stakeholders who attended the event for frankly speaking their minds.
“This is the task we have been called in to execute and I believe we are doing it well. We are hearing all these things about the rot that had crept so deeply in our football and the report we will produce will reflect the views of these stakeholders who have sacrificed their time and resources to share their experiences with us,” said Sithole.
The Zifa Restructuring Committee is a product of Government, through the Sport and Recreation Commission (SRC), efforts to bring back sanity to the administration of the game of football.
The suspension of the Felton Kamambo led board and the subsequent installation of the Restructuring Committee resulted in the expulsion of Zimbabwe from the international family of football playing nations, a punitive measure the country is still grappling under.
Meanwhile, the Zifa board recently saw some light in their battle for recognition and dragging Zimbabwe back into international football.
For the first time, since the Kamambo-led leadership was elbowed out by the Zifa Congress, and replaced by a committee led by Gift Banda, there has been some positive movement.
Fifa have acknowledged receipt of communication from the leadership, which also has a number of board members, who were part of the Kamambo leadership.
Only Kamambo, Phil Machana and Bryton Malandule had their mandates revoked by the Councillors.
Sugar Chagonda, Farai Jere, Barbra Chikosi and Banda were given the benefit of doubt while they have also co-opted others to help them run domestic football.
The co-opted members include Zifa Northern Region chairman, Martin Kweza, who was the heart and soul of the mission to replace Kamambo and his crew.
