Call it ambition or too much of it, but former Zimbabwe international striker Zenzo Moyo’s aim is to become the next Zifa president.
Moyo has been a manager at Highlanders and yesterday, the bulky former striker said he shuddered at the thought that every former player’s next ambition was to become a coach.
He said he was aiming high and sitting on the bench was not his take anymore and he would like to be at the helm of the country’s football mother body.
“Everyone who plays football in Zimbabwe wants to be a coach after their playing career. I am not sitting on the bench anymore; I have left that to boys. I am aiming high like Kalusha Bwalya. In the next two or three years I am looking at becoming the Zifa president,” Moyo said.
This means that the tough-talking Moyo, would be standing in the next Zifa elections come 2014 and this is a direct challenge to all former footballers to come together and back a candidate for the next election.
Moyo said football administrators with no background of the game were not doing the game any good.
He also blamed football club administrators, whom he said were selfish and were not giving proper advice to players.
“Club administrators have a problem. They are selfish. They do not want to see former players who want to improve the game but I tell you, you cannot have those guys who have never played football advising players on what to do next,” Moyo said.
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Moyo called on former players to be active in football administration, saying it was up to them to improve the game in the country by getting involved in clubs from grassroots level.
“Former players have a role to play in the game but it is unfortunate that some club administrators are standing in their way. It is easier for someone who has been in the game to tell a player what it is like and convince them. It’s important for administrators to tell the player the truth, especially where money is concerned. During our time, we could go for 14-15 games without getting paid, but these days you cannot,” Moyo said.
He blamed part of the scenario on the players themselves whom he said have no ambition.
Moyo said that was one of the reasons why the standards of play had dropped and not necessarily that there was no money.
“Standards have dropped. It is not anything to do with money. We used to go for games without receiving any salaries. But players now don’t have any aim. You can play for a big team like Highlanders and not get a lot of money but that team will take you places. These players must set their standards high. As long as you are in Zimbabwe, you are not going to make any money in football,” Moyo said.
Moyo, a former footballer of the year, left Highlanders in 1999-2000 to join AEP Paphos Football Club in Cyprus, a club he play for four years before joining Nicosia in the same country.
He played for Nicosia for eight months before joining Atromitos Football Club in Greece. A knee injury brought him back to the country.
Another former footballer who has taken steps towards administration is Dynamos captain Desmond Maringwa who is the president of the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe while another former international Paul Gundani is the secretary-general.
Charlie Jones failed in his quest to become the Zifa president, probably because he had not consulted and garnered enough support from former footballers across the country, confining himself to Harare only.
