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Omega Sibanda

Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
CHAIRMAN of the Zimbabwe Soccer Player Agents Association, Omega Sibanda, who is seeking election as Zifa vice president, will step down from his post once voted into office in the March 29 national board elections. His decision is also in line with standing Fifa statutes on player agents regulation Article Six which says an applicant may not, under any circumstances, hold a position as an official, employee, etc. at Fifa, a confederation, an association, a league, a club or any organisation connected with such organisations and entities.

“Once elected into office I will step down from my position as chairman of the Player Agents Association as well as being an agent. This is in line with Fifa requirements as well as the desire to see others gaining experience in leadership,” said Sibanda, who will contest the post with educationist and Hillside Teachers’ College principal Elkanah Dube.

Sibanda said he learnt his football administration skills from what he called Zimbabwe’s school of football, Highlanders, under different administrators like Roger Muhlwa and Peter Dube.

“I was involved in many structures at Bosso right from my days in Gweru where I was the secretary of the supporters’ club. I was also chairman of CMED Football Club and when I moved to Bulawayo I became involved in many Highlanders sub committees until I too became an executive member,” said Sibanda.

He said no one forced him to go for the vice presidency’s post but it was through his own motivation to serve Zimbabwe that he decided to throw in his hat because of the experience that he believes he holds through many years of football involvement.

“I was involved in the formation of the Five-a-Side Football League in this part of the country. I also formed FC Windermere which mentored the likes of Milton Ncube and Richard Jongwe among other known players. The club got into Division One through my leadership skills as the president of the club,” said Sibanda.

He added that he also worked closely with Zifa through its many structures like the Warriors Trust whose patron was the late Vice-President Joseph Msika. Lately he was appointed vice chairman of another Zifa sub committee, Mzansi90, whose mandate was to raise funds for the Warriors.

All that, Sibanda believes, gives him enough experience and lays bare the trust that people have in his leadership qualities.
“We will work closely with various organs of our football structures like Area Zones, Beach soccer and Football Union of Zimbabwe to make sure they are recognised as per their rights. Once voted into office, this business of centralising representative national teams in Harare should also stop,” he said.

OMs, as he is affectionately known, said he would take the various representative national teams across the breadth and length of the country so that the generality of Zimbabweans get to identify with their national teams.

The Bulawayo-based businessman said he would not abandon his electorate like previous administrators from the region who stepped down when the seat became hot.
“We lost the Premiership vice chairmanship and the Zifa vice presidency when those that were there could not take it anymore, but I want to say that that is not Omega Sibanda’s character. I am a man of my words and character and therefore I will not abandon the trust bestowed on me by the electorate,” said Sibanda.

He added: “I am a businessman, not an employee who will first need permission to attend to urgent Zifa issues in Harare or outside the country, I am my own man who will always be ready to respond to the call of duty anywhere, anytime”.

Meanwhile, the nomination court to verify candidates sits this morning in Harare.