Play so that you may be serious, Anarchasis. It is funny how people expect our soccer team to perform well when the economy is in tatters.
GUEST COLUMNIST ZANDA SHUMBA
I also find it stupid for government and Parliament to be shocked at the poor performance of the “Warriors” against Tanzania. Do they think our soccer team will be ready and be able to win against regional teams when they are so poorly remunerated and trained?
Preparations for soccer tournaments need to be adequately financed, deligently managed and the facilities need routine maintenance and upgrading. Players also need to have their mental and morale sufficiently geared up and need to be well-trained. Well in Zimbabwe all these are missing.
Sport is an activity that requires that we input substantially both the mental and physical aspects of our being. Our sportsmanship draws from sociological aspects of our life, how we handle defeat or victory, or more generally how one respects the opponent.
Sport in Zimbabwe has been neglected at all levels and in all these aspects. How can our stars go to the gym to work out if they are hungry? They can’t feed their families.
With too much pressure on our players’ minds how does anyone sane expect them to perform well on the soccer field?
People like Leo Mugabe had been at the helm of soccer administration for a long time in syndicate with his uncle who has been at the helm of the Zimbabwe government for three decades now.
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Through mismanagement Leo destroyed the soccer establishment while President Robert Mugabe destroyed the economy and our very livelihoods. It seems the duo set out on a mission to frustrate the Zimbabwean people’s wishes.
Generally people who work well play well. Now at 90% unemployment level how can people play if they don’t work? They will first need money to feed themselves to have energy and build muscle and morale to play.
They will also need money to travel to respective sport fields, to buy sporting gear, refreshments or to pay entrance fees to watch sport. Entrance fees to watch soccer have generally been pegged so low as to accommodate more people who cannot afford due to poor remuneration and high unemployment levels.
This is like adding fuel to an already burning fire.
This will only mean lower soccer standards for our players due to poor remuneration. There will be little money for maintenance and upgrading of soccer facilities.
This is a vicious circle. With more companies closing by day, there will be less money to promote players or the sport. If soccer doesn’t pay well, many talented players will chose other more rewarding careers.
Zimbabwe soccer players earn on average around $1 000 a month. Some regional players are being paid 100 times that much.
I no longer rally behind the “worriers” for fear of constant disappointment, all the same I get terribly shocked by some naive elements within the country who still think the worriers can progress even to the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations.
By killing the economy Zanu PF also killed sport along with other activities and disciplines.
I grew up in Mufakose where there were many sporting facilities, for soccer, table tennis, volleyball, tennis and basketball just naming a few. Consequently we have had a number of stars from the area.
Albeit to say these facilities had been developed and maintained by the Rhodesian government during a time when it was writhing under both heavy economic sanctions from the international community and also guerrilla warfare waged against it on two fronts.
By now, well go to Mufakose and inspect these facilities, they are all in tatters just like the economy and other infrastructure. So is the mood of the people there.
The Rhodesian government under excruciating sanctions ever imposed on any government built and maintained these sporting facilities. Zanu PF government, under light, targeted sanctions only against specific individuals, failed only to maintain these facilities. Smith never complained, but built quietly. Sanctions is Mugabe and Zanu PF mantra, and do nothing beyond that.
Zanu PF government does not have interest of people at heart. Zanu PF has sacrificed virtually everything for its sheer survival. What’s most appalling is that not the general people in Zanu PF have benefitted from this total demise of economy, infrastructure, sport and social fabric. Only Zanu PF elites benefitted, immensely. All other stalwarts only got only some crumbs that fell off the table of the elites.
So I was correct when I said before the July 31 elections that, Zanu PF will “win”, while the nation loses. Sport just like the economy cannot be rigged. They may rig local soccer matches, but how can they rig when playing against Tanzania or any other nation. Mugabe cannot eat his cake and still have it.
When he acts as to destroy the economy, he must not expect it to perform well.
So for all soccer lovers, I encourage you to be level-headed. If the economy isn’t right and players are not well paid, don’t expect miracles. While the status quo is sustained, forget about the Africa Cup and World Cup.
Instead expect the standard of soccer to continue to deteriorate much further, until Zimbabwe soccer becomes something you don’t want to watch. There are already many people in Zimbabwe who denigrate our leagues because of their poor standard, suffice to say there is usually poor sportsmanship accompanying that poor play. Our players will never make good money and we will never watch good soccer from our own countrymen.
On the other hand the Sunday Mail and Herald and ZBC continue to mislead us, fanning false hopes. These entities don’t report accurately, calling spades, spades about our soccer escapades.
If they did report accurately about soccer, we would realise our shortfalls, act on them, and improve. Soccer should not be used as a political tool to divert people’s attention from real problems.
Zimbabweans love soccer, but their hopes keep being dashed by a cruel regime which, for its own illegitimate survival, masterminds fixtures, masterminds how the State-controlled media reports about soccer and masterminds behind scenes, how soccer is overally administered. [email protected]
