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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIFA board member for finance Philimon Machana has taken a swipe at the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC), accusing domestic sport’s regulator of failing the sector.

In an interview on Classic 263’s radio programme “The morning grill”, Machana said the SRC had abandoned its facilitation role and was not doing much to lobby for the sport industry.

He said they were shocked to get official communication on the morning of some Chibuku Super Cup matches that football activities had been halted, yet the Government had tightened Covid-19 lockdown restrictions on Tuesday.

He said football has been in limbo for close to two years now, except for a little phase during which the Chibuku Super Cup has been played, and the start-stop scenario had affected players and clubs, which are paying salaries for people sitting at home.

Sponsors have also been affected and were not getting value for their investment, while spectators have been deprived of watching their favourite teams.

Machana said they are shocked that while other industries are operational, the sports industry, whose activities are under a strict controlled environment compared to small and medium enterprises as well as artisanal mining, remain suspended.

He blamed the SRC for failing to present proper facts to the government and not fighting in the sports industry’s corner.

“As the football community when we compare results, there doesn’t appear to be an effort from the SRC to convince the Government with evidence. We always give them records, scientific evidence. The Second Republic is a listening institution, when you see the same Government allowing SMEs, buses to operate and only disallowing sport that is controlled, maybe those carrying our message are not doing so.

“There’s an adage which says ‘innovate or die’. When we face situations like these, this calls us as sports leaders to come up with innovative methods to make sure the industry doesn’t die. We will continue to appeal and will not tire of asking the SRC to lobby on our behalf. This headmaster-pupil approach to things mustn’t be the way, instead, we should be advocating for smart partnerships for working together,” Machana said.

He projected frosty relations with the SRC.

“I must say formally we have a relationship of a regulator and the national sports association, which is enshrined in the SRC Act. On the ground, as a football community, we’re not seeing much in terms of what the SRC is doing to try and play that facilitative role for football development in our country. We’ve done everything possible to try and meet everything that the SRC requires in terms of standard operation protocols to alleviate Covid-19 infections.

“I know I may be in trouble, but at some stage we need to tell each other the truth. I think this SRC is not playing its role. It seems they are more interested in control, regulation, and punishment instead of playing the facilitation role. We at Zifa haven’t met the SRC board since they were appointed even though we wrote asking to meet. In fact, as the Zifa board, we’ve met HE (President Mnangagwa) more than we’ve seen the SRC board,” said Machana.

He believes football has done everything possible for the game to be played, with players and officials testing every week, facilities and team buses disinfected, as well as appointing medical and Covid-19 protocol personnel. — @ZililoR