The suggestion by national team coach, Ian Gorowa, to have the national team play in different parts of the country appears to be a noble idea and therefore, should be taken seriously.
NewsDay Editorial
Of late the Warriors’ games have been the preserve of the capital city, Harare because the financially crippled Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) cannot host matches outside Harare. Zifa will struggle to raise funds to transport visiting teams as well as accommodating them outside the capital.
The other impediment to taking the Warriors and other national teams to other regions is that the other stadia in the country cannot meet the required standards to host an international match under the auspices of the Federation of International Football Associations (Fifa).
As Gorowa suggested, the ideal situation must be a scenario where people in Masvingo, Mutare, Bulawayo and Gweru can host the national teams because the teams belong to all Zimbabweans.
The national team is an aspiration for every Zimbabwean and it should be accessible to everyone.
But, the greatest setback in trying to achieve this is the absence of commitment from the government in prioritising sport. The government does not take sport seriously, the reason why there has not been any meaningful development of infrastructure. The only notable stadium that was built by the government since independence is the National Sports Stadium. Everything else has been left to municipal administrations to develop or construct stadiums. The civic administrations have in turn failed to execute their mandate.
There is need to upgrade stadia such as Sakubva Stadium in Mutare, Mucheke in Masvingo, Pelandaba in Gwanda and Gibbo Stadium in Chiredzi. These stadiums must meet Fifa standards so that the game is taken everywhere in the country.
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In South Africa, their country’s national team, Bafana Bafana, plays virtually in every city, while Zambia has shown that with government commitment, anything is possible. Apart from the imposing Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola, Zambia is also in the process of building another world class stadium in the capital Lusaka.
It is high time the government takes sport seriously and put meaningful investment in it. The fact that President Robert Mugabe created a stand alone sports ministry is a positive development, but that alone is not enough if there is no guarantee to developing sport through building infrastructure.
Developed countries, particularly those in Europe, have developed immensely through sport. Football leagues in England and Spain are so powerful to the extent that they contribute to the national fiscus of those countries. Sport has created big brands such as the David Beckhams of this world. Football has become one of the largest entertainers and rakes in millions of dollars through television rights. There is a huge potential in sport and government can only realise it through investing.
