Sports / Soccer
Zifa President castigates Gorowa for Afcon failure
23 Jun 2014 at 10:02hrs | Views
The Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) president, Cuthbert Dube, has castigated Warriors coach Ian Gorowa for team's demise in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, exonerating himself and his board.
Dube, who was presenting a paper on the state of football in the country at an indaba the government convened between the game's mother body and the Sports and Recreation Commission, insisted the Zifa board had done everything for the team to ensure it's progression to the latter rounds of the qualifiers.
"As Zifa we were extremely disappointed by the performance of the national team (against Tanzania) after doing so well at CHAN. We thought the doors had been opened for future success, but they disappointed in Tanzania and here at home," said Dube.
"I can tell you that we gave them all the resources they required and I am not even ashamed that it came from my pocket both in Tanzania and here, whether it is good corporate governance or not, for me it doesn't matter. We wanted the team to win, they failed us!"
The national team coach, who is based in South Africa, was conspicuous by his absence at the football indaba that attracted all stakeholders including the Premier Soccer League as well as Primary and Secondary School heads.
According to a source who was part of the organisers, "the indaba was on the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture's programme, but was scheduled for last Thursday on a short notice and Dube was finger pointing when he could have made an excuse for Gorowa that the event was organised on a short-notice."
"You asked where is the coach when everyone is here, we will ask him and get back to you. We need a report on what really happened in all this (Zimbabwe's failure in the Afcon 2015 qualifiers) because it is a disgrace to the country," charged Dube.
"I am a bit disturbed, just soon after defeat of our national team, six players have already left for South Africa, why did they not score? They just wanted caps to say they played for the national team for so many times, so they are marketable…There were calls that Cuthbert Dube must go! Cuthbert Dube must go! Am I the one who selected (the team)? Why was I not selected to play number seven in that regard? So these are things that we need to discuss professionally and not just attack each other for personal vendettas, because this is what I sometimes see in my life, jealousies! Jealousies! Jealousies! For what?"
Despite awaiting a full report of what went wrong during the 2015 Afcon campaign from Gorowa, the Zifa president acknowledges funding has been the association's worst enemy.
"It is sad that the economy is taking a nosedive when most of us thought it would now fly into the skies. But we should not lose hope. Where there is a problem there is a solution. We have great potential for funding in Zimbabwe, but the image of Zifa is not helping matters. We are going into a planning retreat next month and ask ourselves as a football fraternity where we are going as a country and what can be done. We are going to introspect ourselves and say is it the fault of the Zifa board, is it the fault of the secretariat, is it the Zifa president?" said Dube before declaring he would not leave the Zifa throne.
"The call for Cuthbert Dube to go is not the solution. You can get someone from Mars, (but) if you don't have it (funding) you have nothing! Absolutely nothing! So I will go on because I want to leave a legacy."
Dube revealed the country's football mother body, which is enjoying good relations with Fifa under his leadership, has so far this year received a grant of $1,3million.
Part of the grant has gone towards securing a headquarters for the association in Harare's leafy residential suburb, Alexandra Park. The Zifa boss reiterated his support for Fifa president Sepp Blatter.
"We pray that Fifa president Sepp Blatter be retained. Africa as a whole has lobbied that he is retained and he is going to be retained. It is only the British who are against it and they have lost dismally. When it was announced that Blatter was seeking re-election everyone said ‘God you have come to our rescue', so we want to do the same (support Blatter) because if we get all these assets they add to the balance sheet of Zimbabwe's fiscus," he said.
Dube, who was presenting a paper on the state of football in the country at an indaba the government convened between the game's mother body and the Sports and Recreation Commission, insisted the Zifa board had done everything for the team to ensure it's progression to the latter rounds of the qualifiers.
"As Zifa we were extremely disappointed by the performance of the national team (against Tanzania) after doing so well at CHAN. We thought the doors had been opened for future success, but they disappointed in Tanzania and here at home," said Dube.
"I can tell you that we gave them all the resources they required and I am not even ashamed that it came from my pocket both in Tanzania and here, whether it is good corporate governance or not, for me it doesn't matter. We wanted the team to win, they failed us!"
The national team coach, who is based in South Africa, was conspicuous by his absence at the football indaba that attracted all stakeholders including the Premier Soccer League as well as Primary and Secondary School heads.
According to a source who was part of the organisers, "the indaba was on the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture's programme, but was scheduled for last Thursday on a short notice and Dube was finger pointing when he could have made an excuse for Gorowa that the event was organised on a short-notice."
"You asked where is the coach when everyone is here, we will ask him and get back to you. We need a report on what really happened in all this (Zimbabwe's failure in the Afcon 2015 qualifiers) because it is a disgrace to the country," charged Dube.
Despite awaiting a full report of what went wrong during the 2015 Afcon campaign from Gorowa, the Zifa president acknowledges funding has been the association's worst enemy.
"It is sad that the economy is taking a nosedive when most of us thought it would now fly into the skies. But we should not lose hope. Where there is a problem there is a solution. We have great potential for funding in Zimbabwe, but the image of Zifa is not helping matters. We are going into a planning retreat next month and ask ourselves as a football fraternity where we are going as a country and what can be done. We are going to introspect ourselves and say is it the fault of the Zifa board, is it the fault of the secretariat, is it the Zifa president?" said Dube before declaring he would not leave the Zifa throne.
"The call for Cuthbert Dube to go is not the solution. You can get someone from Mars, (but) if you don't have it (funding) you have nothing! Absolutely nothing! So I will go on because I want to leave a legacy."
Dube revealed the country's football mother body, which is enjoying good relations with Fifa under his leadership, has so far this year received a grant of $1,3million.
Part of the grant has gone towards securing a headquarters for the association in Harare's leafy residential suburb, Alexandra Park. The Zifa boss reiterated his support for Fifa president Sepp Blatter.
"We pray that Fifa president Sepp Blatter be retained. Africa as a whole has lobbied that he is retained and he is going to be retained. It is only the British who are against it and they have lost dismally. When it was announced that Blatter was seeking re-election everyone said ‘God you have come to our rescue', so we want to do the same (support Blatter) because if we get all these assets they add to the balance sheet of Zimbabwe's fiscus," he said.
Source - Zim Mail
