Philip Chiyangwa promised to change the face of football as he stepped into the Zifa office and the football limelight, but few would have envisaged him becoming the game changer in African football politics.
Sports Verdict with Kevin Mapasure
To some, it was barely believable that he could provide positive change. In fact, most predicted Captain Fiasco would cause mayhem in the beautiful game and leave a trail of destruction.
Few would have imagined he would be the one to gather the guts to finally take the bull by its horns and offer a genuine threat to Issa Hayatou’s continued stay at the helm of the Confederation of African Football (Caf).
Already a lot has changed on the local scene, but, while some have embraced the shift, others are still resisting and opposing.
Chiyangwa has charmed even the fiercest of his critics by taking on Hayatou.
This week he dominated football dialogue as he claimed space in newspapers across the continent.
For a long time the rest of the continent has been aggrieved in its silence as one West African country after another got the favour of hosting the biggest football party on the continent, Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
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With Gabon having hosted the 2017 Afcon, the competition’s finals will stay in West Africa for the next three editions as Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Guinea have secured the rights for 2019, 2021 and 2023 and God knows when the competition will reach East Africa or the southern part of the continent.
Hayatou has barely been challenged in the way Chiyangwa is standing up to him. The Caf boss, who has been at the helm since 1988, has always had his way, smoothly earning himself one term after another, but not this time.
This time the game has changed and the game changer is Cosafa president Philip Chiyangwa, who himself is not contesting any post, but has appointed himself as Ahmad Ahmad’s campaign manager.
While it is Ahmad contesting the election, it is Chiyangwa who has left Hayatou agitated, fretting and frantic ahead of the March 6 plebiscite in Addis Ababa.
Chiyangwa has not been shy or afraid of standing toe-to-toe with the continent’s most powerful football figure, never mind the potential consequences if Hayatou does win another term.
Never mind the final outcome of the election, win or lose for Ahmad, Chiyangwa is already a hero on the continent with his bravery and bravado.
Not even a letter dispatched from the Caf headquarters threatening Chiyangwa over his planned gathering in Harare on February 24, where he
has invited football leaders outside his jurisdiction as Cosafa president, could cow the maverick businessman.
These are interesting times in African football never seen before and Chiyangwa is a central figure in an election in which he is not participating.
Despite the threat of sanctions, Chiyangwa has vowed to carry on with his meeting whose guest of honour is Fifa president Gianni Infantino, who is certainly not one of Hayatou’s best friends.
Whatever you think of Chiyangwa, he is already a hero after causing tremors which have reverberated across the continent, publicly and proudly campaigning for the end of Hayatou’s reign.
