STAFF WRITER
The election of a new football association chief will invariably inject optimism into the local game but there are also steep challenges ahead as he or she seeks to overhaul the entire ecosystem.
Zimbabwe’s football scene has been marred by various problems for decades, including match-fixing scandals, crowd trouble and infrastructure woes.
Many believe that what local football needs is a very experienced individual in the world of football with good intentions to clean it up. However, it is worthy to note that this may be an impossible task to accomplish given the limited pool of quality candidates.
It is expected that within the next six months, Zimbabwean football’s electorate will have the chance to make amends and set itself on the road to a better future.
While no one has officially said yet they want the job, also considering this influential position are experienced Zifa insiders, high-profile former administrators and players, and outsiders from the worlds of politics and business.
Recent speculation about potential candidates for the Zifa presidency has ignited conversations around the country regards who is likely to land the top office out of the nine or so names that are being bandied around. Speculation surrounding surprise candidates as favourites to land the role full time, makes those deliberations all the more interesting.
Omega Sibanda, the former FA vice president during the often erratic Phillip Chiyangwa era, is considered the front runner. Over the next few months he will reflect on whether he enters the contest but it is widely known that Sibanda has previously contemplated running for the FA presidency.
Beyond Sibanda, a few names have emerged in connection with the post among them Scott Sakupwanya, a businessman and politician like Chiyangwa, has reportedly decided to have a go at the presidency.
Would a big hitter like Sakupwanya, Gift Banda, Yadah boss, Walter Magaya or entrepreneur Sakupwanya be the answer? Can provide strong leadership backed by their proven business pedigree? Would football’s committee men be prepared to make such a bold move? Especially after the Dube and Chiyangwa eras?
More to the point, would such established figures want the hassle of trying to turn round the FA? Perhaps.
So what sort of president does Zifa need?
Well, they need to be the public face of the organisation who can also work quietly in the background to ensure support from both the professional game and the amateur level.
They need to be able to build bridges with Fifa and the SRC after the damage caused by the Kamambo debacle.
They need to be able to see through the youth development review – such an important lesson from the Warrior’s failure in South Africa – and come up with a new vision for Zifa that gives it the chance to lead Zimbabwean football and restore the organisation’s independence from vested interests. Reviewing the structure of the board would be a good start.
They need to shore up the Zifa’s finances, so burdened by legacy debts, and strike a new deal with a main sponsor and TV rights partner which will ensure the short and medium-term future.
And finally they need to work closely with government – especially with any potential parliamentary select committee inquiry likely to expose the Zimbabwean game’s many structural shortcomings. If that inquiry is instituted and its findings are damning for Zimbabwean football, so be it.
Some say electing a first-rate president will only mask Zifa’s second-rate structure and lead to more problems.
But find the right leader and there will at least be a bit of light for Zifa at the end of a very, very dark period.
News from the Normalisation Committee recently that Zifa elections were imminent also raised interest in the race to be the organisation’s next leader.
While Sakupwanya is a contender and Magaya is seemingly local football’s saviour and public face — he was smiling for the cameras when he opened his Heart Stadium – football purists are worried about the duo.
For many, a close inquiry should be instituted by independent bodies with no football experience and review the system that allowed successive Zifa Board presidents to take such a powerful grip on the associations internal mechanisms and finances.
Even before the suspension of Kamambo and his cohorts, the FIFA suspension or the arrival of the Normalisation Committee, Zimbabwean football drew the world’s attention to the deep dysfunction at the association.
Yet it is still not clear when its presidential election will be held, nor what the voting rules will be.
But B Metro Sport has spoken to sources at ZIFA and those close to potential candidates, all of whom requested anonymity to protect their positions. Nobody can confidently predict how it will play out — and many compared the situation to the politicking and manoeuvring on TV shows like The West Wing or House of Cards…
Again, the key to who might be the next ZIFA leader is in the small print of its governance.
Under the association’s statutes, the president is elected by an assembly made up of representatives across areas of football in Zimbabwe: clubs, and figures from beach football, schools, et al.
This assembly is supposed to be ‘sovereign’, but historically it has been controlled by the national president and the four regional chiefs.