POLITICIAN Omega Sibanda, seeking another Zifa vice-president gig in the upcoming elections, has said there is no way football administration in the country can be detached from government and those who brook interference have something to hide.
Sibanda served as Zifa vice-president under the leadership of Cuthbert Dube and assumed the same post under another politician Philip Chiyangwa.
“You should take note of the fact that, I served one, not even a term, I was with Cuthbert Dube and I served one year three months and then we were revoked by Congress. I came back with Philip Chiyangwa to finish Cuthbert Dube’s term but I don’t have a full term under my name,” Sibanda said.
He says the Zifa statutes are clear on the roles from the president to the chairpersons of the area zones and from portfolio committees in the institutions.
The former Zifa vice-president and ex-Vungu MP said government should play a part in how football is run in the country.
“Government is an all-weather friend. My view is government should be part of us. For example, look at what is happening in Morocco, look at what is happening in Uganda. Morocco is going to host the World Cup because they are organised. There is no way we can operate parallel to government,” Sibanda said.
“We must be in government through the Sport and Recreation Commission (SRC), work with and get funding from government. Once we present ourselves properly, government will take over of our financial obligations,”
He said the “so-called government interference is to do with people who are running football”.
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“If you want to label that government interferes with football, you can do it and win because you will be avoiding something which you don’t know,” Sibanda said, adding there “is a thin line which divides football and government”.
Zifa recently suffered an almost two-year ban from Fifa following the revocation of the Felton Kamambo-led board by the SRC. After the censure was lifted, a normalisation committee, led by Lincoln Mutasa, was installed to clear the ground for elections, slated for January 25.
Sibanda also bemoaned the absence of Caf-certified stadiums which has resulted in the Warriors playing their home games outside the country. This, he said, should be a thing of the past.
“The board assists in the construction of stadia through Fifa grants, forward programmes. We can ask for a special grant for upgrading of a stadium,” he said.
“I will obviously engage the executive committee and the president that we should talk to the local authorities for lease of stadiums and then we go to Caf or Fifa and say, ‘we have got a 25-year lease here, can you assist us in building’ and also tell government that ‘we have, say US$10 million which got from Fifa for stadium construction but it will cost US$14 million, government will chip in as a major stakeholder’.”
The move, he said, would see stadiums in the country functioning, adding that “poor planning” resulted in the national team playing outside the country.
Sibanda said the biggest mistake that erstwhile football leadership in the country made was to concentrate on the men’s senior men national team at the expense of grassroot development, women football and other areas.
“We need juniors to participate in all competitions be it Caf, Fifa or Cosafa both boys and girls. They must go there and compete and get used to this international environment, so that when they come to the (senior) national team, they know what they are doing,” he said.
Sibanda battles it out for that post with Kennedy Ndebele, Peter Dube, James Takavada and Francis Nyamutsamba.
