Fifa assistant development officer (Southern Region) Kele Mosimanewatula jets into the country on Wednesday to assess progress on the Goal Project following the release of $400 000 for the completion of the project.
Acting Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze said Mosimanewatula, who is based in Gaborone, Botswana would meet the project consultants before touring the site at Mount Hampden.
“He will also emphasise the speeding up of the project after a tour of the site with the project engineers. Besides that he will also look at other initiatives that Fifa has put in place to develop Zimbabwe football.
“Last time, we had a meeting in Kariba which resulted in some declarations to be implemented being made so this will also be a follow-up visit to see how far the national; association has gone in putting the decisions into action,” Mashingaidze said.
The Mount Hampden project has been in place for almost a decade, having been started when Leo Mugabe was Zifa chairman and made little progress under successive boards until Fifa decided to appoint private operatives to run the project.
The project, according to Mashingaidze, is managed by a consortium of architects called Anabiz, who will brief Mosimanewatula on progress made.
Zifa purchased a plot in Mt Hampden, some 30 kilometres west of Harare under the Goal Project way back around 2000 but the construction of a lodging place called the Zifa Village and training grounds have yet to reach full potential.
On 2 June 2009, the Goal Bureau approved Zifa’s second project, which was necessary to complete and renovate the infrastructure constructed as part of the country’s first goal project at a cost of $400 000.
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The improvements made include the completion of the earthwork and construction of a football pitch, the construction of dressing rooms, floodlighting, and improving access routes to the technical centre.
The Fifa Goal project is aimed at bridging the gap between the developed and advanced European countries and the underdeveloped nations in Africa, Asia and South America to bring parity.
In his presentation to the Zifa Council meeting on Saturday in Harare, Zifa president Cuthbert Dube said Fifa had put in place four development initiatives.
“These are member association courses in referees, coaching, administration and football medicine. “There is also Futuro administration for selected structures, unity course for emergency requests and a grassroots project that will target players of ages between six and 12 years for the next five years,” Dube said.
According to the Kariba Declaration, the Goal Project was supposed to be commissioned by the end of this month while various other issues agreed on have also not been met.
These include the recapitalisation of the national association, which was supposed to be done by December 31 2010, the restructuring of the secretariat, the appointment of a communications officer and the appointment of a women football administrator.
The national association was also expected to develop a long-term plan by the end of January this year, but that will now be completed by the end of April.
The national association would also try to revived Zifa Private Limited to run as a commercial unit.
Dube said Zifa would try to acquire modern communication equipment by June while fully furnishing a new headquarters.
