ZIFA says it will send a team to the Cosafa Cup next month in South Africa despite the ongoing attacks on foreigners which have been condemned across the world.
BY WELLINGTON TONI
Zifa spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela says the Cosafa tournament will provide the best platform to fight the violence.
“The Zimbabwe Football Association would like to inform the football fraternity and the nation at large that Zimbabwe will not boycott the 2015 Cosafa tournament to be hosted by South Africa.
“The association takes great exception to the nefarious xenophobic violence and we condemn these brutal acts with the contempt they deserve.
“While we do not condone xenophobia, we believe that boycotting the tournament is not the appropriate measure to deal with these ghastly malpractices.
“We believe that two wrongs do not make a right and Zimbabwe is a respected member of Cosafa hence we will cooperate fully to ensure that our regional tournament succeeds,” Gwesela told the association’s official website www.zifa.org.zw yesterday.
He added: “We are of the considered view that the Cosafa tournament itself will send a clear message to perpetrators of violence that regardless of different nationalities, people can exist in harmony.
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The Cosafa tournament will inevitably demonstrate that football has unquestionable power to surpass borders and nationalities.
“The tournament will also reveal that that football is a gigantic agent for peace. Every goal that Zimbabwe is going to score during the tournament will be a bold message against xenophobia.”
Football stars, Cuthbert Malajila who plays for Mamelodi Sundowns and Tendai Ndoro who turns out for Mpumalanga Black Aces have condemned the attacks on foreigners. Warriors and Zimbabwe Saints legend Ephraim Chawanda has also joined the chorus.
Cosafa has also condemned the attacks, issuing a statement over the weekend.
“Cosafa is a zone of multicultural backgrounds and we fully condemn the shameful xenophobia we are seeing in South Africa. However, we stand firmly behind SAFA at this time and are looking forward to the Cosafa Cup 2015 as an opportunity for all countries in the region to come together in peace,” Cosafa president Suketu Patel said in a statement.
The South African Football Association (Safa) has also condemned the attacks and announced that two international friendly matches against neighbouring countries would be played in a bid to sensitise the public on the evils of xenophobia.
“We want to use the two high-profile international friendly matches as an instrument to unite this continent. What has been happening in the past few days has really left most people in shock and dismayed,” said Safa CEO Dennis Mumble.
“We have decided to take this step (of playing two high-profile international friendly matches) as part of the fight against xenophobia. Madiba spoke of the power of sport in uniting people from different walks of life and we want to use the power of football to unite this continent and kick out this scourge within certain malcontents in our society,” Mumble told SuperSport.
Cosafa Cup 2015 Fixtures Group A Group B Namibia Lesotho Zimbabwe Tanzania Seychelles Madagascar Mauritius Swaziland GROUP STAGE May 17 Match 1: Namibia vs Seychelles 15h00 Moruleng Match 2: Zimbabwe vs Mauritius 17h30 Moruleng May 18 Match 3: Lesotho vs Madagascar 17h00 Olympia Park Match 4: Tanzania vs Swaziland 19h30 Olympia Park May 19 Match 5: Seychelles vs Zimbabwe 17h00 Moruleng Match 6: Namibia vs Mauritius 19h30 Moruleng May 20 Match 7: Madagascar vs Tanzania 17h00 Olympia Park Match 8: Lesotho vs Swaziland 19h30 Olympia Park May 21 Match 9: Namibia vs Zimbabwe 17h00 Moruleng Match 10: Seychelles vs Mauritius 17h00 Olympia Park May 22 Match 11: Lesotho vs Tanzania 17h00 Moruleng Match 12: Madagascar vs Swaziland 17h00 Olympia Park Quarter-finals May 24 Match 13 (QF1): Zambia vs Win. Group A 15h00 Moruleng Match 14 (QF2): South Africa vs Botswana 17h30 Moruleng May 25 Match 15 (QF3): Ghana vs Win. Group B 17h00 Olympia Park Match 16 (QF4): Mozambique vs Malawi 19h30 Olympia Park Plate semi-finals May 27 Match 17 (SF1): Loser M13 vs Loser M15 17h00 Olympia Park Match 18 (SF2): Loser M14 vs Loser M16 19h30 Olympia Park Cup semi-finals May 28 Match 19 (SF1): Winner M13 vs Winner M15 17h00 Moruleng Match 20 (SF2): Winner M14 vs Winner M16 19h30 Moruleng Plate final May 29 Match 21 (Final): Winner M17 vs Winner M18 17h00 Olympia Park Third-place play-off May 30 Match 22: Loser M19 vs Loser M20 15h00 Moruleng Cup final May 30 Match 23 (Final): Winner M19 vs Winner M20 17h30 Moruleng
