Online Reporter
Petros Kausiyo and Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THERE was little time to party and celebrate for incoming ZIFA president Nqobile Magwizi.
There isn’t time yet for his handover, takeover ceremony with outgoing ZIFA Normalisation Committee chairman Lincoln Mutasa.
This is because the Harare businessman, who received a congratulatory phone call from FIFA president Gianni Infantino soon after romping to victory in the ZIFA elections, has had to immediately get down to official duties.
Yesterday Magwizi was on a flight to Morocco where he will team up with Warriors coach Michael Nees ahead of the draw for the 2025 Africa Cup Nations finals.
The draw from which the Warriors will know the identity of their opponents will be held tonight in Rabat.
These men will be among the 24 teams at the biannual jamboree to be staged in the North African country in December.
Magwizi received the congratulatory call from Infantino just over an hour after he had swept to a landslide victory that saw him polling 61 out of 72 valid votes cast and 55 more ahead of his nearest challenger, Philemon Machana (six).
FIFA then followed up with a letter from their secretary general, Mattias Grafstrom.
“Dear President, Dear Mr. Magwizi
“I am very pleased to extend my warmest congratulations on your recent election as president of the Zimbabwe Football Association,’’ wrote Grafstrom.
“I look forward to building a strong and collaborative relationship with you and your team as we work together to promote and develop the beautiful game of football in Zimbabwe and in Africa.
“Together with the whole FIFA Team, we are here for you and remain available to help you implement your vision and through our different programmes, further strengthen the game at all levels.
“I also wish to congratulate the members of the Executive Committee elected alongside you, whose experience and commitment will play an essential role in supporting your decisions and guiding your federation’s future.”
Grafstrom added that he would be expecting Magwizi to visit the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, to buttress relations between the federation and their member association.
“I also look forward to meeting you in the near future and welcoming you to our headquarters. I am sure this will be a great opportunity to further discuss our shared objectives for the development of football and how we can be helpful for you.
“Congratulations once again on this significant achievement. We wish you every success and remain committed to supporting your efforts every step of the way,’’ Grafström said.
It is in Morocco that Magwizi and Nees will formally get to meet as president and coach.
The German expatriate was already in Rabat, where he attended a coaches’ workshop organised by the Confederation of African Football to equip the participants with requisite skills yesterday.
“The workshop brought the teams up to speed on the plans by CAF and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 21 December 2025–18 January 2026 tournament.
“This included issues around team hotels, travel, match day logistics, the match schedule, and introducing the coaches to the new concept of “Team Base Camps,” as well as distributing them among the 24 nations via a draw,” wrote CAF on their official website.
“The workshop aligned all nations on the processes for the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON 2025 to enable them to start thorough planning over the next 11 months and understand the expectations placed on them as participants.”
Nees will then head straight back home after tonight’s draw, but Magwizi has another working visit to South Africa soon after his North African sojourn.
A statement from ZIFA media confirmed as much.
“ZIFA president Nqobile Magwizi will not be available this coming week due to a number of work commitments,” said ZIFA spokesperson Mike Madoda.
“He’ll be in Morocco for the AFCON draw tomorrow (tonight), and he will head to South Africa later on in the week on a working trip.”
That means Magwizi will be back home next week, after which he will do the handover and takeover proceedings with Mutasa, who has steered the association since July 11, 2023, until the expiry of his extended mandate at the weekend.
Magwizi, speaking soon after his election triumph, also revealed a hectic schedule as he hits the ground running.
“We have to start working immediately,” Magwizi said.
“There are urgent issues which we need to attend to and make sure we get down to business.
“There are tasks which we need to carry out right now as work has already started.
“We need to make sure that we are doing things in a proper manner,” he said.
Magwizi reiterated the clarion call that he made during his charm offensive that ZIFA needed to work with all stakeholders, including the government, to function efficiently.
“I am not going to dump my campaign manifesto. It’s no longer a manifesto . . . It’s now a to-do list.
“I want everyone to measure my work by ticking the boxes on my manifesto.
“I am very passionate about the game, and I am looking forward to doing all I can to give it the value it is crying for,” added Magwizi.
“We need ideas from all of you, and we know that will work. We are ready to work and do everything we ought to do to help the game.
“I believe I have able colleagues in the form of the two vice presidents (Loveness Mukura and Kennedy Ndebele) as well as the board members (Tafadzwa Benza, Brighton Ushendibaba, Davison Muchena, Alice Zeure, Thomas Marambanyika, and Kudzai Kadzombe).
“The team will help me a lot to deliver the Zimbabwe football vision.”
