EDITORIAL COMMENT: Zifa must stop the rumbling drama and give us results Warriors

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COMPLIMENTS of the New Year to our readers and we hope 2017 will be a good sporting year, starting with the Warriors’ participation in the African Cup of Nations that kicks off in Gabon from January 14.

Sadly though, our football starts 2017 in the same manner that it ended 2016 — confusion.

It seems the promotion and relegation stand-off between Zifa and the Premier Soccer League (PSL) was the best Christmas present our football leadership could give the nation, dashing any hopes of new beginnings some have placed top of their 2017 resolutions.

While most Zimbabweans have drawn up a list of resolutions they hope to stick to in 2017, our football year starts with a crisis meeting disguised as an extraordinary general meeting this Saturday to try and resolve the relegation and promotion squabbles.

The big question though is whether the meeting genuinely seeks to find a lasting solution to the Zifa/PSL impasse or is being held just to rubberstamp the decision of the Zifa executive.

The last such meeting by this Zifa parliament of football was held at the end of October and its resolutions sowed the seeds of confusion plaguing our football.

That meeting controversially resolved to arm-twist the PSL into relegating four and promoting four teams. This was a departure from a previously agreed resolution to relegate two and promote two, with promotional play-offs determining the two sides to be promoted from winners of the four regional Zifa Division One leagues.

The PSL rejected the move as irrational and insisted on the initial two in, two out resolution. As both sides dug in their heels, the Zifa executive committee then added a confusing dimension by saying two teams would be relegated and four promoted.

The PSL again rejected the proposal and declared a dispute, which it took to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

As the tug of war continued, winners of the four Division One leagues were left and are still in limbo, as they are in the dark about their destiny.

It is, however, perplexing that such a matter even ended up at CAS when it could have easily been resolved here in Zimbabwe by our football leaders employing common sense.

There are too many egos and pettiness at play in this matter and if these are not cast away, these Zifa meetings will yield more confusion.

Yet, all Zifa meetings now should be about the Warriors ahead of their departure for the Afcon and not some gathering to settle personal scores and prod certain individuals’ egos.

We know that national teams are the responsibility of the Zifa executive, but why have sideshows when the Warriors’ camping venue and bonuses haven’t been sorted out?

This lack of focus is the reason we find ourselves in such a poor state.

Does the fact that national teams are the baby of the Zifa executive mean the Zifa assembly shouldn’t give a hoot?

Then whose interests are these councillors serving? Why are they insisting on an 18-team league when the PSL says it’s not sustainable?

What is Zifa trying to prove and for what? After all it’s the PSL that runs the league and it knows better. The Zifa-run regional Division One leagues were a disaster, with teams being expelled or pulling out due to financial problems. Some teams even failed to fulfil fixtures. Is that the topflight league Zifa envisages by seeking to increase the number of teams?

If only Zifa invested such energy it is displaying in this impasse in our national teams, our teams would definitely prepare better for international assignments.

Besides wedging suspension after suspension, nothing has really been done to tackle the association’s massive debt problem.

In fact, close to $100 000 was added to the burgeoning Zifa debt through legal fees alone accrued by National Football Association (Nafaz) and transferred to Zifa when the ill-fated project fell through.

Looking at Zifa’s 2016 record, it’s becoming increasingly hard to be optimistic about a quick exit from our football quagmire in 2017.

Yes, this Zifa administration inherited a flawed organisation, but it hasn’t demonstrated a great deal of progress either during its tenure thus far.

Its tenure had earlier been based on faith that it would turn things around and while there appeared to be some signs of progress at the beginning, the wheels began to come off.

We were soon subjected to some horrendous decision-making — the one more damaging than most being the Zifa assembly seeking to dissolve the association illegally and replacing it with Nafaz.

Our football has never truly recovered from that decision and Zifa ought to do more than just arrogant talk to convince us that they will not continue to drag our football down a path of dissatisfaction, suspicion and deprecation.

May Zifa please spare us its rumbling drama in 2017; we deserve better.

We look forward to a good performance by the Warriors in Gabon. We have a good set of players who, if given the right support, can do us proud.

Group B will, no doubt, not be easy as our boys face big names from Senegal, Algeria and Tunisia. But no opponent can really intimidate Costa Nhamoinesu, Knowledge Musona, Nyasha Mushekwi, Khama Billiat, Tendai Ndoro or Matthew Rusike.

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