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Omega Sibanda

Sports Correspondent
ZIFA vice-president Omega Sibanda has hailed President Mugabe for backing his organisation’s bid for Zimbabwe to host the 2017 African Cup of Nations. Sibanda said the fact that Sport, Arts and Culture Minister, Andrew Langa was able to quickly engage President Mugabe over the matter, was a sign of the effectiveness of having a stand-alone sports ministry.  The Confederation of African Football (Caf) opened bidding for the hosting of the 2017 Afcon after Libya’s withdrawal due to instability in that country.
Last week, Langa announced that President Mugabe approved the bid plan, which would have to be put in place quickly ahead of the September 30 deadline.

“I think this is one of the fruits of having a stand-alone sports ministry because Langa was able to effectively and quickly engage the President when the decision had been made that we should bid for the continental football showcase. I feel that in previous years it was difficult to get direct access to the President whenever football officials would have liked to engage him, but now it is a relatively easy process,” said Sibanda.

“I’m not taking away the efforts of the previous ministers who were also in charge of education along with sport but I am emphasizing the importance of having a sports ministry that would focus on the issues at hand. I applaud the President for ensuring sport has its own ministry and I feel Langa has managed to handle the job effectively and should get all the support he needs.”

Langa and Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister, Walter Mzembi told journalists on Thursday that they had a fruitful meeting with President Mugabe who gave his approval for the country to submit their bid.

To stand a better chance of landing the rights, Zimbabwe had approached Zambia, to get the tournament back in Southern Africa again. Zambia refused.
Sibanda said the benefits were likely to be immense for the nation if it hosts the premier continental tourney.

“Not only will our football get a lift but business and tourism will be boosted by the tournament. While we have previously failed we are confident of landing this one particularly after President Mugabe has backed the games and we are likely to receive all the necessary guarantees needed by Caf,” he said.

“With Bulawayo hosting the Africa Union Region Five Under-20 Youth Games this year, having Afcon here will build on that and ensure we have world class facilities as a country,” said Sibanda.

Zimbabwe previously won the bid to host the Nations Cup in 2000 but the rights were taken away at the last minute and awarded to Ghana and Nigeria with Caf saying that the country was behind in terms of preparedness.

Zimbabwe also submitted bids for the Afcon in 2010 and the 2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup which were unsuccessful.
In his address last week, Langa said the absence of government guarantees were their major weakness causing the previous failed bids. With President Mugabe behind the latest one, they feel they have a better chance of winning the right to host the 2017 Nations Cup.

“Zimbabwe’s bids were weakened seriously as we did not have the required letters of guarantees from the Head of State and also from other ministries. I am happy to tell this Press conference that we have met with His Excellency over the hosting of the 2017 Afcon and His Excellency has okayed that we can try our luck as Zimbabwe,’’ said Langa then, adding: “It means, therefore, that this bid we are trying to work on has the support of His Excellency’’.

Caf have set September 30, as the deadline for applications. Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania have also shown interest in hosting the 2017 edition.
Caf’s Article 32 of the statutes governing the applications requires that any member association proposing its country for the organisation of the Afcon must have organised the final tournament of at least one of the following competitions, the African Nations Championships (Chan); Under-20 African Championships; Under -17 African Championships; African Women Football Championships or the Under-23 African Championships, factors that could stand in the way of the Zimbabwe bid.