Chiyangwa, Danny Jordaan goes head to head

ZIFA president Philip Chiyangwa was in bullish mood yesterday as he braced for his first crack at the COSAFA presidency ahead of the regional body's elective congress in Rustenburg on Saturday.

Chiyangwa will have to shake off the challenge of South African Football Association boss Danny Jordaan in a bid to replace long-serving COSAFA president Suketu Patel of Seychelles.

The Harare property mogul is already in South Africa to drum up the support of presidents of Southern African associations.

He flew into South Africa in the company of ZIFA board member Philemon Machana while another board member — Piraishe Mabhena — is expected to also follow and lend support to their boss.

Chiyangwa speaking from South Africa yesterday said he was confident he would be handed the mandate to lead the regional body, which also happens to be the biggest block in Africa, but that has not matched its size with results on the pitch.

Southern African teams have often been found wanting in terms of qualifying for big tournaments such as the World Cup and the African Cup of Nations and Chiyangwa believes he could be the right man to transform the body that has seen only Zambia and South Africa being crowned African champions.

Saturday's COSAFA elections will precede the final of the region's Under-20 championships that have been going on since December 7.

With many associations in the region reportedly agreed that COSAFA needs a new leader after 14 years of Patel's rule, it will be down to either of Chiyangwa or Jordaan to take over the mantle.

Four years ago, Jordaan took a crack at the COSAFA presidency, but he withdrew his challenge to Patel moments before the election got underway in Gaborone, Botswana.

Chiyangwa said his campaign had been gathering pace over the last few months.

COSAFA's 14-member bloc is made up of Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Chiyangwa said if indications of his campaign are anything to go by, then he should swept to victory on Saturday when the results are announced at Sun City at 12.30pm.

"I am the leading candidate. If elected I will make sure that there is leadership quality and we will have a better understanding of tomorrow.

"There is no point to have an election on Saturday when you are not confident of winning. I am leading the race and I feel there is no need for us to have an election.

"I started the campaign quite early and I am above 75 percent as far as support is concerned and I am sure that tomorrow (today) some people will throw in the towel.

"I have already declared my portion," Chiyangwa said.

South African administrators have not been lucky with elections lately.

During the FIFA presidential elections that ushered in Gianni Infantino, South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale had been in the running before he threw in the towel.

Chiyangwa also enters the COSAFA race, buoyed by the fact that his country is the only from the region to have qualified for the 2017 Nations Cup in Gabon.

Despite limited financial resources, Zimbabwe also had teams qualifying for the African Games in Congo Brazzaville while the Mighty Warriors were at both the Olympic Games in Brazil in August and the just ended Women African Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

"We work as a team and I feel Zimbabwe has been left out for a long time.

"The guy who is conducting a seminar here is a Zimbabwean employed by FIFA which shows that Zimbabweans are capable.

"It's a pity that we had a previous executive that did not push enough for other people to rise. We had a selfish leadership in Zimbabwe.

"I want people who are not in the current leadership to rise and we must recommend them.

"A lot of people in COSAFA, CAF and FIFA, speak French and I feel that it's high time we also get into the structures and assist the rise of football in COSAFA member countries," Chiyangwa said.

Mabhena, the ZIFA executive member responsible for competitions, also threw his weight behind his boss and was also confident Chiyangwa would win in South Africa.

"Since the departure of Ashford Mamelodi who moved to FIFA, COSAFA has not really added value to Southern Africa. It's painful to see that we only have one team from Southern Africa going for AFCON and that means something is not right.

"COSAFA has failed to strengthen our leagues and the development of soccer from grassroots level seems to be lacking. When Mamelodi moved he left a very big void and it's still to be filled.

"COSAFA used to be very competitive but it's now difficult to use it to prepare for AFCON or a CHAN tournament and it's no longer adding much value as it is supposed to be doing

"I see the pendulum swinging in our direction because of one key point.

"The members want change and it is only Chiyangwa who can bring the change," said Mabhena.