Bring back our football home

For the first time in the Zimbabwean football history we have played our home games away from home, thousands of kilometers away just because we have failed to put our house in order through fixing our home NSS.

It seems we wait until the situation has gone out of control or hand. Such lackadaisical approach when it comes to national issues have become a thorny into the flesh.


This is so embarrassing for a country like Zimbabwe where we boast of being the most educated country in Africa.

I am just imagining how much revenue we lost when we played our home game in Rwanda. Those small business entrepreneurships who sell roasted ground nuts, cool drinks, cashiers, transport industry, cafeteria would have made a killing if that game was played at our own hunting ground.

Our football association must pull up its socks or else we shall be push overs whenever we go for international games.

Zifa were told long back to put its house in order. The problem has been recurring for quite long. At one time Zimbabwe was given a chance to host Africa Cup of Nations but we blew the chance as the inspectors told Zifa that the football pitches were not up to Fifa standards.

Instead of the government  supporting the sport it is seen interfering with the sport. Some powerful politicians know that football is a cash cow and their desires are to milk the sport dry.

They try to shove in their relatives who do not have have even an iota of developing football.

All these shenanigans must stop. Kirsty Coventry is another minister sitting on her laurels and does not have the spine to call a spade a spade. Sure how can we be a football powerhouse when our home games are played in Rwanda living the supporters jumping from one link to another in order to follow the match live on social media.

We need to facelift our National Sports Stadium *Pa Gomba* to make it a world class football arena. We must erect bucket seats as quickly as possible. Not only at NSS but all our major grounds.

We have the capacity to do so but most of the time is spent playing political games with the world's most beautiful game of football.

We lack grassroots football developing institutions. Football is serious business but our government would rather spend much more money on buying expensive cars for CEOs whilst the sport is suffering. The  talent is going down the drain each year. Most promising youngsters are now spending their time abusing alcohol and drugs. They have given up on the sport. Coaches and former players are running away from the country  because there is no future in coaching or playing football in Zimbabwe.

The likes of the late Rahman Gumbo, George Chigova. Francis Shonhayi, Peter Ndlovu, Madinda Ndlovu just to mention a few all were plying their trade outside the country.

So developing the game is a continuous process and we still have some gaps yawning without being filled.

We have a problem of not having serious powerful people in the cabinet who have the appetite to push for football developing matters. Football is a lucrative sport and source of employment for young people so we need to take this seriously. We need to expand our football horizons to rural areas and tame the raw talent which is lying idle.

We need to breed a new crop of football leaders who have football at heart not leaders who are just eyeing to line their empty pockets We are being let down by lack of leadership. We have the capacity as a country to build at least one multimillion dollar stadium in each of our ten provinces but nothing is being done. GO Warriors GO.

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