Sports / Other
Omega Sibanda to push for decentralisation of national teams matches
13 Apr 2014 at 09:58hrs | Views
THE country's national teams are going to play throughout the country, if Zimbabwe Football Association vice-president, Omega Sibanda manages to convince fellow board members on the need to spread national teams games to all corners of the country.
National teams have in the past played most of their matches in Harare with a few held in Bulawayo, but Sibanda said he was aiming at having all national teams watched live in action by football supporters even in towns and cities such as Hwange, Zvishavane, Chiredzi, Mutare and Bulawayo.
In a wide-ranging interview, the businessman, who got into office a fortnight ago, said it was a travesty of justice that other towns were being denied the opportunity to watch national teams.
"I am going on a crusade to convince other board members that we should decentralise national teams' venues if we are going to get any buy-in from supporters countrywide. I know the pain of failing to watch any national team live, I will do all in my power to ensure it is a thing of the past.
"We have good stadia like Gibbo, Colliery, Sakubva, Ascot, Barbourfields and Mandava which can all host national teams. Actually any stadium that has a good surface and good dressing rooms would be considered to host any match featuring a national team. I know the Warriors played in Bulawayo last year, but the game was a friendly, here I am talking about the crucial qualifiers in various tournaments they would be involved in," he said.
OMs, as he is fondly known in football circles, said it would be prudent for Zimbabwe to learn from other countries among them Nigeria who never use their main stadia in big cities in qualifiers but opt for remote towns, which usually plays to their advantage.
He said hiding behind lack of money to pay travelling expenses for visiting teams was not a good excuse and the association should look for the cash to fund the visitors.
"Supporters are the critical part of the game and shutting them out is not good. All national teams, right from juniors to the senior squad, for both men and women should rotate their match venues and play all over the country.
"I encourage supporters to form structures in their towns and support the Warriors whenever they would be playing in their area. Fans can contribute significantly to the upkeep of the team through these structures as they will create a fund they dip into when a national team is visiting their town," said Sibanda.
Turning to Asiagate, Sibanda said it was unfortunate the nation found itself in such an embarrassing match-fixing scandal that tainted the game but it is time to put the chapter behind and chart a new course.
"I think we learnt a lot from the Asiagate scandal, it drained a lot of resources that could have been directed elsewhere but it is something that had to be done, wrongs were made and punishments were meted out. I now think it's time we bury the hatchet and admit that things can be rectified.
"We need to move quickly and meet all the affected parties and reach agreements. I will push that we come up an understanding with various officials without having to involve the courts," he said.
Sibanda said football has to be the winner at the end of the day and some parties were unnecessarily being kept out of the game because of mistakes that were made.
Zifa has failed to deal with Danisa Phiri's case that saw him given a life ban for his involvement in Asiagate when in-fact he did not play some of the games he is said to have featured in. His seems to be to be a case of mistaken identity as Chicken Inn's Danny Phiri is the one who played in those matches.
Sibanda said it was time for reconciliation and focus should now be put on marketing the game and getting sponsorships to ensure the game prospers.
He said only a united football family could succeed and those who failed to garner any position in Zifa elections held between January and March this year should not shy away from assisting those in office instead of seeking to undermine them.
"We have several people shouting about the elections when they did not even contest. I think they did not contest because they were unqualified to do so and I do not know what qualifies them now to make noise about the voting. If they have genuine problems they should follow proper channels and maybe they might be heard.
"They should also understand that four years is not a long period of time and soon they will get their chance to take part in the elections again but I urge them to work with us so as to show the electorate that their intentions are good," he said.
Sibanda said the new board would also put more emphasis on junior development through giving assistance to those with academies and junior teams. He said women football should also go back to its glory days with every corner of the country having vibrant structures.
He said they would be introducing provincial and regional select teams with their coaches as a way of encouraging youth development and aid national team selection.
The provincial select sides would be made up of under-20 players while regional teams would mainly have footballers aged 23 and below.
Lower divisions are going to be encouraged to limit the age of players with Division Three having under-17 footballers, Division Two under-20 and Division One league featuring mostly under-23 players.
Sibanda said this would be part of the five-year youth development plan that would seek to give youngsters more playing game time.
He said referees should improve their pedigree on the pitch and present a united front instead of fighting among themselves.
"We need good refereeing standards, we will work on training and there is another issue of banned referees I think it's time to look at their offences and see whether they can be rehabilitated and brought back into the game because these are young referees who still have a role to play in the game," said Sibanda, adding more women will be encouraged to take up refereeing.
The former FC Windermere owner said there is a need for coaches to improve on their qualifications and it was saddening that Zimbabwe is yet to host a Caf A coaching course.
Although a Caf A course is pencilled for later this year, Sibanda said countries like Tanzania started hosting it in 2007, Zambia had its own last year and it is time Zimbabwe held more courses to ensure there is a wide pool of coaches with higher badges.
He also said coaches should not just restrict themselves to Caf qualifications but should also seek Uefa badges as it improves their standing.
"It is the same with administration, we need more people to be qualified instructors and not just have a handful of individuals; those in administration should not be afraid to take up the courses to improve their qualifications as football will immensely benefit from the knowledge they have acquired," said Sibanda.
He appealed to the corporate world to partner Zifa although admitting they have a huge task in cleaning up the image of the association that has been battered by years of poor administration and recently a match-fixing scandal.
National teams have in the past played most of their matches in Harare with a few held in Bulawayo, but Sibanda said he was aiming at having all national teams watched live in action by football supporters even in towns and cities such as Hwange, Zvishavane, Chiredzi, Mutare and Bulawayo.
In a wide-ranging interview, the businessman, who got into office a fortnight ago, said it was a travesty of justice that other towns were being denied the opportunity to watch national teams.
"I am going on a crusade to convince other board members that we should decentralise national teams' venues if we are going to get any buy-in from supporters countrywide. I know the pain of failing to watch any national team live, I will do all in my power to ensure it is a thing of the past.
"We have good stadia like Gibbo, Colliery, Sakubva, Ascot, Barbourfields and Mandava which can all host national teams. Actually any stadium that has a good surface and good dressing rooms would be considered to host any match featuring a national team. I know the Warriors played in Bulawayo last year, but the game was a friendly, here I am talking about the crucial qualifiers in various tournaments they would be involved in," he said.
OMs, as he is fondly known in football circles, said it would be prudent for Zimbabwe to learn from other countries among them Nigeria who never use their main stadia in big cities in qualifiers but opt for remote towns, which usually plays to their advantage.
He said hiding behind lack of money to pay travelling expenses for visiting teams was not a good excuse and the association should look for the cash to fund the visitors.
"Supporters are the critical part of the game and shutting them out is not good. All national teams, right from juniors to the senior squad, for both men and women should rotate their match venues and play all over the country.
"I encourage supporters to form structures in their towns and support the Warriors whenever they would be playing in their area. Fans can contribute significantly to the upkeep of the team through these structures as they will create a fund they dip into when a national team is visiting their town," said Sibanda.
Turning to Asiagate, Sibanda said it was unfortunate the nation found itself in such an embarrassing match-fixing scandal that tainted the game but it is time to put the chapter behind and chart a new course.
"I think we learnt a lot from the Asiagate scandal, it drained a lot of resources that could have been directed elsewhere but it is something that had to be done, wrongs were made and punishments were meted out. I now think it's time we bury the hatchet and admit that things can be rectified.
"We need to move quickly and meet all the affected parties and reach agreements. I will push that we come up an understanding with various officials without having to involve the courts," he said.
Sibanda said football has to be the winner at the end of the day and some parties were unnecessarily being kept out of the game because of mistakes that were made.
Zifa has failed to deal with Danisa Phiri's case that saw him given a life ban for his involvement in Asiagate when in-fact he did not play some of the games he is said to have featured in. His seems to be to be a case of mistaken identity as Chicken Inn's Danny Phiri is the one who played in those matches.
Sibanda said it was time for reconciliation and focus should now be put on marketing the game and getting sponsorships to ensure the game prospers.
"We have several people shouting about the elections when they did not even contest. I think they did not contest because they were unqualified to do so and I do not know what qualifies them now to make noise about the voting. If they have genuine problems they should follow proper channels and maybe they might be heard.
"They should also understand that four years is not a long period of time and soon they will get their chance to take part in the elections again but I urge them to work with us so as to show the electorate that their intentions are good," he said.
Sibanda said the new board would also put more emphasis on junior development through giving assistance to those with academies and junior teams. He said women football should also go back to its glory days with every corner of the country having vibrant structures.
He said they would be introducing provincial and regional select teams with their coaches as a way of encouraging youth development and aid national team selection.
The provincial select sides would be made up of under-20 players while regional teams would mainly have footballers aged 23 and below.
Lower divisions are going to be encouraged to limit the age of players with Division Three having under-17 footballers, Division Two under-20 and Division One league featuring mostly under-23 players.
Sibanda said this would be part of the five-year youth development plan that would seek to give youngsters more playing game time.
He said referees should improve their pedigree on the pitch and present a united front instead of fighting among themselves.
"We need good refereeing standards, we will work on training and there is another issue of banned referees I think it's time to look at their offences and see whether they can be rehabilitated and brought back into the game because these are young referees who still have a role to play in the game," said Sibanda, adding more women will be encouraged to take up refereeing.
The former FC Windermere owner said there is a need for coaches to improve on their qualifications and it was saddening that Zimbabwe is yet to host a Caf A coaching course.
Although a Caf A course is pencilled for later this year, Sibanda said countries like Tanzania started hosting it in 2007, Zambia had its own last year and it is time Zimbabwe held more courses to ensure there is a wide pool of coaches with higher badges.
He also said coaches should not just restrict themselves to Caf qualifications but should also seek Uefa badges as it improves their standing.
"It is the same with administration, we need more people to be qualified instructors and not just have a handful of individuals; those in administration should not be afraid to take up the courses to improve their qualifications as football will immensely benefit from the knowledge they have acquired," said Sibanda.
He appealed to the corporate world to partner Zifa although admitting they have a huge task in cleaning up the image of the association that has been battered by years of poor administration and recently a match-fixing scandal.
Source - chronicle
