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Omega Sibanda

Sports Reporter
THE inaugural Zifa awards which had been set for this Friday at the Harare International Conference Centre have been postponed for the second time after a number of guests, including Minister of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture Makhosini Hlongwane, cast doubts over their availability.

The awards, which were initially supposed to take place early this month on November 11, have suffered another disruption because of the current operations in Government.

Zifa vice-president Omega Sibanda, who chairs the Zifa Awards committee, yesterday said they had been forced to shelve the event indefinitely because of the uncertainties.

“It’s unfortunate we have postponed the event until further notice because quite a number of people that we had invited, including the guest of honour, are unable to make it in the current environment.

“Government is the major stakeholder in this event so it will be difficult to move forward as it stands.

“We can only be able to do this when everything has normalised.

“We plead with our stakeholders and we are sincerely sorry for the changes in the plans which apparently have been caused by circumstances beyond our control,” said Sibanda.

The awards were postponed for the first time two weeks ago because of non-availability of some of the key figures in the game, including Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa, who had been invited to Tunisia on a tour of duty.

The national team was also committed on the same day as they had a scheduled international friendly match in Namibia.

A number of the national team players were also supposed to be part of the gala.

Zifa will honour those who have contributed to the development of the game in this country with the highlight of the night being the Greatest Footballer of All Time, an award voted for by the public through an sms platform.

The shortlist for the big award includes Peter Ndlovu, George Shaya, Moses Chunga and Bruce Grobbelaar.

Zifa will also honour the best Zimbabwe player abroad, the best coach to guide the Warriors since independence, the best Mighty Warriors coach, the best administrator to take charge of women’s football and the best three players to feature for the senior women national football team.

Zimbabwe’s most successful football club, the best professionally run football club in the country in history and the best three coaches to guide domestic football clubs since 1980, will also be honoured on the same night.

Three outstanding referees stand to be recognised for exuding a high level of professionalism locally and internationally.

Sibanda said they will not drop plans for the glitzy show which is expected to attract some high-profile international football personalities.

“Definitely, we are going to have the ceremony at a date to be announced. We are happy we have received an overwhelming response from the public on the sms voting platform.

“The idea is to bring people together through football and to give recognition and honour to the outstanding players and officials for their contributions towards the growth and development of the game,” said Sibanda.