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LEGENDS IN THE MAKING . . . Farai Dhliwayo (left) explains to ZIFA president Philip Chiyangwa about the work his academy is doing to develop young talent in Eastlea after the country’s football leader paid a visit to the academy yesterday

Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
ZIFA president Philip Chiyangwa, touched by circumstances that surrounded the botched Supa Power tournament involving Dynamos and Highlanders in Botswana, has implored local clubs and the game’s leadership to take a business approach to football.

Chiyangwa said he was not amused to note that the country’s two biggest clubs — Dynamos and Highlanders — were not leading the way in fully asserting their rights and their value as big business brands and had been dragged into a hazy deal.

DeMbare and Bosso had been scheduled to travel to Francistown, Botswana, for a four-team tournament involving that country’s two teams — Mochudi Centre Chiefs and Tafic.

But the Zimbabwean giants pulled out at the last minute, citing the failure by the organisers to fulfil contractual obligations.

Chiyangwa, who has brought a refreshing vision of blending football and business and trying to unlock the value in the national game, said he wanted local clubs to move away from the old system of relying only on gate revenue for their sustainability.

The Harare property mogul has been using every platform on the domestic and international fora, including his weekly radio programme on ZIFM Stereo, to discuss the business aspect of football as well as various initiatives, including development programmes that ZIFA are undertaking to improve the national game.

“Following the revolution that has taken place in football, the administrators of yesterday need to come out of the past and abandon the traditional ways of running the game,’’ said Chiyangwa.

“The advantage that has been taken against us in the past is more about how ignorant most of us have been about our rights and how we fail to assert our rights.

“Going backwards, there were certain things that our previous leaders didn’t do, but I am saying if you are a visionary leader, you need to be assertive.

“It is the same story with our PSL clubs and those in the lower leagues. We need to be generational thinkers.

“Our regenerated value has far been whittled by greed because we are easily satisfied with the little that we get. Dynamos, Highlanders, CAPS United and all the clubs must know their value.

“We should have a situation where our players are utilities and whose value we should know. It was saddening to hear that our top clubs were looking to go and play in a tournament where there was to be no prize money, which shows they didn’t really value themselves.

“There is going to be a new ZIFA programme to regenerate the leadership that we have in football from district, provincial, clubs up to national level.’’

Chiyangwa challenged the administrators in the game “to be generational thinkers and visionaries ’’.

“We need to look just beyond ourselves and ensure that in whatever we do, we also leave a legacy that benefits generations to come. When I came in, there was nothing at ZIFA except huge debts, but I don’t want to leave the association in that same state’’.

Chiyangwa also outlined an audacious development programme that will soon be rolled out by ZIFA for junior football, which will be driven by the association’s technical director Wilson Mutekede and his crew.

The ZIFA boss took some time yesterday to visit an emerging school of excellence — the Legends Academy at Hellenic Sports Club in Eastlea — which is nurturing talent from the ages of six up to 18 years.

Academy director Farai Dhliwayo told Chiyangwa that their goal is to produce players with the mental and technical abilities to have great professional football careers.

“Our players come from diverse financial and regional backgrounds. Our dedicated training grounds include one full-sized pitch and three junior pitches. We have four dedicated coaches and at any given time, at least one coach is available for one-on-one training sessions with the players.

“With a philosophy of personal development that goes beyond sport, we use football as a vehicle to teach young legends to become better people. Irrespective of background, we give our players the chance to learn life-changing ideals about ambition, respect and teamwork,’’ Dhliwayo said.

Dhliwayo, a holder of a Scottish Football Association C-Licence badge revealed plans of setting up a Football Development League that would afford the academies a chance to hold some competitions and assess the young players’ progress.

Chiyangwa said ZIFA were looking to ensure there were registered academies across all the provinces, which would also undertake systematic development programmes to nurture the talent that is abundant in the country.