Zimpapers Logo

Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
SPORTS editors from leading daily and weekly newspapers and a radio personality have called on the Cuthbert Dube led Zifa board to do the honourable thing and resign from their posts instead of waiting for the government to eventually kick them out.

The sports gatekeepers had different opinions on the government involvement with Herald’s Robson Sharuko describing as nonsensical claims by Dube that lack of government funding was the major contributor to problems at Zifa.

“That’s totally nonsensical, other associations are busy sourcing their own funding like cricket who’re at the World Cup finals. Appearance fees for those cricket players are around $60,000 but Zimbabwe Cricket are able to take care of that, how they do it we don’t know yet we’ve never heard them screaming for government funding.”

He said when Dube assumed office in 2010 he promised the nation that he would bring sponsors back to football but almost five years down the line, no single sponsor has come aboard.

“The Premier Soccer League had no sponsor in 2010 when Motor Action cruised to victory but Twine Phiri and his colleagues managed to charm the corporate world and now we’ve sponsors, never mind how much they put in, so what’s so special about Zifa that it should be them who must always be funded by the government,” said Sharuko.

He said if Zifa was to be fully funded by the government then it might as well go ahead and appoint the Zifa leadership like it does on parastatals.

“Any sane person would look at himself in the mirror and ask whether they’ve done what they promised people and if not then the next thing will be to step aside and give a chance to others. I don’t see why Dube isn’t doing that,” said Sharuko.

Sharuko’s call for the board to step down was echoed by his Chronicle counterpart, Lovemore Dube.

“The most noble thing for Cuthbert Dube and the board to do is to step down and save Zimbabwe the agony of a Fifa ban. They’ve done their best but it’s all clear that they aren’t moving an inch forward.

“So why hold the nation to ransom when it’s clear that they’re no longer welcome in the corridors of football power. Sadly it’s the game which is suffering and crying loud for salvation. Five years down the line we can’t be celebrating the Goal Project progress, what the nation demands is to see the Warriors at all major events of the game as participants,” said Dube.

The Chronicle Senior Sports Editor said there would not be a vacuum in the running of the game as there are some good apples among the councillors while others could be co-opted or some in the board retained.

He said aspirations of the nation should come first and the board had shown that it was divided and was not inspiring any hope for the future.

“In the past when there were rays of hope for the national game, it was as a result of well calculated national development programmes. What we’ve seen with this administration is money spinning ventures under the disguise of coaches and referees’ workshops yet on the ground there’s little trickling to junior development where the future of the game lies,” said Dube.

He said many issues like Centralgate and Asiagate had gone for years without conclusion. It is not good for the game because delayed justice is justice denied, he said.

Dube said it was shocking to hear that the Zifa boss had not been attending matches.

“How can one marry a woman that he doesn’t want to sleep with? It would appear as if Dube isn’t keen on the game but some people want him to be there for their own gain. Minister Langa’s reluctance to act is a worrying thing and his Deputy Thabeth Kanengoni-Malinga is right in calling for drastic measures. Government needs also to come to the rescue of Zifa financially.

“Another thing to attend to could be for the government to assist with the paying of severance packages for senior secretariat staff who also have been part of the rot. If PSL has sponsors falling over each other Zifa has bigger numbers for any company to want to gain visibility through.”

Radio personality Ezra Tshisa Sibanda said dissolving the Zifa board must be the last option but just like Sharuko, called on Cuthbert to throw in the towel.

“The board members must go back to the electorate and say they’ve failed and therefore are stepping down. Our football is in the intensive care unit and needs to be saved before it dies but I don’t think dissolving the board is the right thing for now but they (board members) must actually help us and resign on their own accord,” said Sibanda.

Sunday News Sports Editor Phineas Mukwazo said Dube was democratically elected and government involvement was not necessary as that would automatically invite the wrath of Fifa who will suspend the country.

He said the only route was for the board to step down and have new faces taking over.

“If Dube truly loves football and is also concerned about the game, I believe he must step down than to wait for the government to dissolve his board and bring chaos in our football. Once he is suspended by the government we will not be able to get any assistance from Fifa, we’re all in agreement that all isn’t well in our football,” said Mukwazo.

News Day sports boss Wellington Toni said getting rid of Dube will not take away the problem bedeviling football in this country saying instead the government must pour money into football and then demand results.

“Fifa will be happy if government intervenes in football but not if it interferes and therefore let us have money being poured into football and then after that we can demand results. At the moment even if we get rid of this guy and his crew, as long as there’s no funding we won’t achieve our goal,” said Toni.