All eyes on ZIFA elections

ZIFA councillors will tomorrow come under the spotlight when they converge at the ZIFA Village to choose a new leadership that will run the domestic game until 2018 and the tone for the country's flagship sport.

Rarely has a ZIFA election created so much excitement, plots and sub-plots across the country and beyond the borders, like this poll which follows a decision made by the councillors on October 3 to revoke the mandate of the executive committee that was headed by Cuthbert Dube.

As they prepare to make their way to Harare today ahead of tomorrow's polls, the councillors have found themselves being the focal point with the manner in which they are going to vote and ultimately their choices, a subject of conjecture.

While there is no doubting that the highlight of tomorrow's deliberations is the presidential race pitting businessmen Philip Chiyangwa and Trevor Carelse-Juul against former Harare City chairman Leslie Gwindi and 1984 Soccer Star of the Year James Takavada, there is also huge interest on who will constitute the board with 10 candidates vying for the four slots available.

CAPS United chairman Lewis Uriri, former referee Wilfred Mukuna, ex-Lengthens director Beadle Gwasira, former Warriors midfielder Edzai Kasinauyo, beach soccer chairman Joseph Musariri, Power Master Football club owner Jackson Munyaka, Philemon Machana and three regional chairmen - Musa Mundaza, Felton Kamambo and Piraishe Mabhena are contesting for the four slots available on the board.

It is the decision by the three regional chairmen and Musariri to vie for positions on the board which has also heaped some pressure on the councillors ahead of the election as they have to grapple with the big question of whether their voting pattern will not be influenced by the debt of gratitude they owe to their colleagues.

Mandaza, Kamambo, Mabhena and Musariri were vocal figures in the build-up to the ZIFA assembly's extraordinary general meeting that revoked the mandate of the Dube board, teaming up with Northern Region's Willard Manyengavana and the rest of the councillors, during that October 3 meeting.

Manyengavana, however, did not elect to stand for the board member position preferring instead to continue his contribution to the national game at regional level where his Division One League was the only one branded out of the four regions.

Apart from seeking to vote in alliances and blocks, the ZIFA Assembly also find themselves with the huge task of identifying a leadership that can transform the national game and help turn the Warriors into a force on the continent.

All the presidential candidates - Chiyangwa, Takavada, Juul and Gwindi - have outlined their different gospels as did the pair of Omega Sibanda and Lincoln Mutasa, who are contesting for the vice-presidency, and the 10 men seeking positions on the rest of the board.

The clarion call in most of the manifestos has been to ensure ZIFA become a viable entity that wins the respect of football's stakeholders.

As they seek to cast their votes the 58 men and women expected to cast their ballots would also need to take into account some key trends that have evolved in the game which include that:

Traditionally there have been significant administrative and business differences between football clubs in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, Latin America and Africa.

However, within football it has been recently argued that globalisation and the international circulation of sport capital has eroded many of the traditional peculiarities between football organisations in different countries and Zimbabwe is no exception.

Corporate structures, owned or controlled on market principles are now more prevalent in different countries.

Football has become more commercialised and even the costs required to operate a club have increased substantially thus many traditional owners are unable to provide required levels of investment.

Chiyangwa, who has led the way in the massive campaign trail, has spoken passionately about his intention to unlock the value in football and make it a part of the billion dollar industry that it has become globally.

The Harare property mogul has anchored his vision on three pillars which are to "Rebuild, Restore, Reposition" ZIFA as a vibrant, viable association that drives the development of football in the country and will now be hoping that the electorate will give him the seal of approval they appear to have pledged to him.

He appears to be leading the race by a mile.

Gwindi has preached the re-establishment of authority of the ZIFA assembly as the supreme policy making body for the local game.

He said he will seek to re-establish the respect for the constitution, bring back sanity and accountability in the way the association manages its finances, good corporate governance, investment in grassroots, restoration of the authority of the Assembly and bringing back to life the structures that had collapsed under the previous administration.

"We need to carry out a very far reaching and deep institutional reform.

"We need to look at our constitution. We need to look at how best we can improve," said Gwindi.

Juul has also spoken of his bid to revive the Dream Team era when he was the ZIFA chairman and the Warriors were a trailblazing side.

"The vision is to make ZIFA a pre-eminent, well respected and successful football association in the world of soccer, sustained by a continuous stream of talented young footballers competing at the highest level."

Takavada wants former players to have a more influential role in the way football is run in the country and giving more power to the councillors in the way the game is administered.