Online Reporter
LAST week a former Zimbabwe youth international and Gweru United legend, Collin Semwayo, revealed that he had wanted to contest for the highest office in Zimbabwe’s football when elections take place on January 25.
He was however, forced out without filing papers ahead of the December 11 deadline.
Elections to choose the new Zifa executive committee will be held next month and currently the football community awaits the conclusion of the vetting exercise that is expected to end on December 23 when the final list of candidates is unveiled.
Semwayo claimed that he was forced out of the Zifa president’s race last week after five councillors allegedly demanded US$300 each to fill his nomination papers.
“I just needed five signatures appended to my form and I was told the Harare councillors want US$1 500, I then decided I would do the moral thing and pull out of the race”.
Semwayo also posted on his Facebook wall: “Greetings people. Sorry guys I failed to make the cut! I couldn’t cough up a “bribery fee” of $1,500 to the five councillors required to validate my nomination. Zimbabwe who bewitched us?”
Semwayo feels the game can never be traded for a few pieces of silverware adding that the game was in the mess it is in because of councillors’ unscrupulous behaviour.
“The game should never be up for sale. I refuse to be corrupt and to gain office through unorthodox means. Our football definitely deserves better and it starts at the bottom with democratic processes like nominations. But if the stage is rotten it means the rest is a fallacy.
“The game has been on its knees for a while. So what some of us wanted was real football development with well-structured national programmes that would have seen results coming by 2030, I am not taking about chancing but a well-defined pathway with stakeholders’ input and involvement.
“I have been a player at the highest level back home and I have kept myself in the picture about what is happening in Zimbabwean football. I have friends abroad with whom I have spoken about the local game and are keen to help,” said Semwayo.
He might have been prompted to make certain claims on realisation he did not stand a chance.
But there are a number of crucial points that Semwayo makes and are worth noting as the football fraternity prepares for the biggest contest in Zifa’s recent history.
As a priest, Semwayo said offering a bribe to get into office is a sin, an immorality that must not manifest itself in the country.
He believes the councillors ought to prioritise reviving the game of football in the country, but fears Zifa might be captured by cartels which will ruin the future of the game.
There are many others who have made claims against councillors’ behaviour ahead of elections and this has been the story for most of the previous elections.
Candidates are not under any pressure to come up with compelling election manifestos and this is because the crucial stakeholders, otherwise known as councillors, do not seem to care about that.
We have heard claims that winning candidates would have pampered the councillors and also pledged head of delegation roles once elected.
It has become virtually acceptable that for one to seek Zifa office they must have fat wallets and not necessarily solid plans for the game.
Under the current set-up, candidates do not even have to engage the public on their plans and they can go for the election without a single interview in the media and still emerge victorious.
All they need is to engage the councillors, which is often done behind closed doors.
In recent elections, one winning presidential candidate produced his printed manifesto less than an hour before the crucial meeting and won comfortably. It later emerged that the councillors had been booked into a decent hotel in the build-up to election day and that is where the actual bidding was done.
What the country needs right now is the revival of football at all levels. The Warriors’ recent qualification for the 2025 AFCON finals makes it easy to then revive all the key structures so that the entire ecosystem is functional.
There is a need to do more for the women game. The previous leaders took turns to sabotage women football in Zimbabwe and, one of the biggest crimes, was to divert Fifa funds to other uses.
Right now, the Mighty Warriors are far from being ideal because women football had been neglected for over a decade.
We had reports of abuse of female match officials, especially under the previous leadership that was eventually kicked out of office by the Sports Commission.
It is therefore a welcome development that we now see a rise in the number of female match officials handling high profile games in the Premier Soccer League under the Zifa Normalisation Committee.
We hope the substantive leadership that comes into office on January 25 will be inspired to do even more and raise the women’s game.
Whenever the age group teams take part in international assignments, the issue of selection is topical amid fears the game is being hijacked by the sprouting academies.
These are the things that should preoccupy the councillors between December 23 and January 25, which is the definitive stage of Zifa elections.
Councillors should be aware of what Zimbabwean football needs to be revived and be competitive again.
Councillors should be preoccupied by having stadiums filling up again as was the case in the 1980s and 1990s.
Councillors should be concerned about having the national teams gracing all the international tournaments on offer. This can only be achieved if the 78 councillors ignore the state of their wallets and focus on the national interest first. Only then will Zimbabwe football win.
daniel chigunwe
