The visiting Fifa delegation will tomorrow have a no-holds barred confidential round-table discussion with selected media personnel on football and the media.
The delegation is led by Fifa Southern Region Development officer Ashford Mamelodi, Fifa development officer for Africa Francisco Bruscolli and consultant Brendan Menton.
They arrived in the country on Saturday for an organisational review of the national association and its affiliates with a bid to turn Zifa into a professional organisation.
This is their second visit in a year, having been at Kariba where a declaration was made to turn the game professional and this visit provides both Fifa and Zifa opprtunity to gauge progress made in that regard.
They will meet with the Zifa secretariat led by chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze, Premier Soccer League, the Sports and Recreation Commission, provinces and regions, media, contractors for the Goal Project and various standing committees of the national association.
After the tour, the delegation will head towards Victoria Falls for a meeting with 15 secretary-generals of football associations from English-speaking nations.
But it is the media meeting tomorrow that will gauge Zifa’s willingness to deal openly with all media in the country and accept that being a national association means transparency at all levels.
The objectives of the meeting are to gain full understanding of the perceptions of the media about football in Zimbabwe, identify key issues impacting on football coverage, how the relationship between the media and Zifa can be improved and services provided by the national association.
