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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE world over, authorities are working round the clock to find lasting solutions that will help people adjust to the new normal following the Covid-19 scourge that has triggered a social and economic crisis.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) indicates that the economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating, with millions of people at risk of falling into abject poverty.

It also notes that nearly half of the world’s 3,3 billion global workforce is at risk of losing its livelihoods.

“We are facing a global health crisis unlike any in the 75-year history of the United Nations; one that is killing people, spreading human suffering, and upending people’s lives. But this is much more than a health crisis. It is a human, economic and social crisis.

The coronavirus disease (Covid-19), which has been characterised as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, is attacking societies at their core,” reads a United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs document on the social impact of Covid-19.

Without the means to earn an income during lockdowns, many are unable to feed themselves and their families. For most, no income means no food.

With the pandemic threatening many livelihoods, governments have been encouraging adhering to workplace safety and health practices.

One such sector that has been hit hard is the sports industry, and in the Zimbabwean case, the football industry, which happens to be the largest employer in the sports sector, is feeling the heat.

Domestic football has been on hold for more than a year and Government, through the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC), says the only way sporting activities will resume is after sports bodies apply and present clear and acceptable Covid-19 standard operating procedures.

Zifa has since applied for resumption of football and its biggest affiliate the Premier Soccer League (PSL) has also been working on a supporting plan for the resumption of the game.

The key items in the PSL’s document are testing and compliance to all safety and health protocols at training as well as match venues.

While waiting for their application to be considered, time is running out for local footballers. Already, the time spent away has been too much.

Opportunities for possible career moves to better paying leagues are fading away as players grow older.

“We are hoping to get back to football. Right now, we are moving backwards and some of us are getting old and chances of playing abroad are getting slimmer by the day,” said Bukhosi Sibanda, a Highlanders forward.

At the beginning of the week, the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe (Fuz) launched a #bringbackfootball campaign, in which it compiled video clips of players whose careers have stalled by the Covid-19 enforced lockdown.

They complain that the continued freeze has thrown them into grinding poverty which has forced them to turn to other means for survival.

Younger players have been robbed of an opportunity to showcase their talent to global scouts, as they are being overlooked for national team selection due to inactivity.

No sane person can blame national team coaches for leaving inactive players when selecting those that will do duty in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers.

Playing in the Afcon qualifiers, which are beamed live across the globe, presents an opportunity for players to be identified by scouts for teams abroad.

Last year in November, local players missed out on selection for Zimbabwe’s back-to-back Afcon qualifiers against African champions Algeria.

Next month, Zimbabwe will play crucial Afcon qualifiers against Botswana and Zambia and it’s a given that locally-based players will take no part in the encounters because they haven’t kicked a ball in over a year and they can have no complaint.

Players that will be selected are those plying their trade in countries where football is currently in full swing.

Warriors’ players based in the South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania leagues are in line for call-ups alongside European-based crew of France-based Tino Kadewere, Belgium-based skipper Knowledge Musona and England-based Marvelous Nakamba, among others.

But latest reports that Zimbabwe has been placed in the Covid-19 red zone by the British government means there could be possibilities of England-based Warriors’ players skipping the Botswana and Zambia matches.

Had the Zimbabwean league been active, maybe some of the locally-based footballers could have be called-up.

Highlanders captain Ariel Sibanda said: “We’re growing older by the day and such opportunities of playing abroad are getting slim because we are inactive. National team caps matter and can boost one’s CV, but we now have to watch from home as those who were lucky to make foreign moves before Covid-19 struck are now enjoying national team call-ups more than us. Hopefully we will be back soon.”

Chicken Inn defender Ian Nekati lamented the football freeze, saying staying at home is not what they signed up for because staying at home means no income for them.

He said they had resorted to selling all sorts of goods and wares to feed their families.

Dynamos defender Partson Jaure pleaded with the Zifa and PSL leadership to come up with a feasible plan for resumption of the game, saying football was their only known profession.

“We are not used to staying at home. Can they please also make sure when we start we will be safe,” said Jaure.
Obriel Chirinda of Chicken Inn said they have to hustle to feed their families and the return of the game would greatly ease their suffering.

So bad is the situation that some players have even stopped training to hustle.
This could be problematic when the game is allowed to resume because the players would take a very long time to build match fitness.

Without adequate preparations to engage in competitive action, career-ending injuries would take centre stage in every match. — @ZililoR