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Cuthbert Dube

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
EMBATTLED ZIFA president Cuthbert Dube has mourned about the lack of Government support, in defence of his abysmal record in charge of domestic football in the past five years, as pressure continued to mount for him to either quit or be fired.

The Harare business executive said he would not throw in the towel and, instead, heaped the blame on the national game’s woes to a Government he claims has not been supportive of his ZIFA board.

The Warriors’ absence at the 2015 Nations Cup finals, currently underway in Equatorial Guinea, the third time the national team have failed to qualify for Africa’s biggest football showcase under Dube’s watch, has thrown the spotlight back on the ZIFA boss.

But a defiant Dube told NewsDay on Tuesday that he would not be forced to quit by his growing army of critics who have been ratcheting up the pressure for him to go.

“I have pumped in a lot of my personal resources into the game which should have been the duty of the Government,” Dube told NewsDay.

“It is Government’s responsibility to fund national teams because these teams do not belong to ZIFA but to Zimbabwe.

“BUT I HAVE PUMPED IN MY MONEY AND NATIONAL TEAMS HAVE NEVER BEEN NEGLECTED.”

Dube’s latest message of defiance, though, paints a picture of a boxer, hanging onto the ropes after being driven into the corner by a barrage of blows from his opponent, in a desperate attempt to just remain in the fight, despite fears the damage inflicted might have cost him his memory.

For, exactly a year ago, as he wooed voters to give him a second term as ZIFA president, Dube addressed the issue of national teams, in his manifesto, and how they had been abused by the very football leadership he now claims has never neglected them.

“During our term of office, the National Teams did not qualify for the World Cup and African Cup of Nations,” Dube said in his manifesto.

“We failed to fulfil some regional and continental matches because of lack of funding from the Government of National Unity.

“OUR BOARD FAILED TO PAY NATIONAL TEAM COACHES AND THE SAME HAVE TAKEN ZIFA TO COURT.”

Maybe, in Dube’s reclusive world, not paying their national team’s coaches isn’t an act of neglecting them.

Five years ago, as Dube sought his first term as ZIFA president, the issues related to the national teams and Government support were key drivers of his manifesto as he appealed for votes from the councillors.

Dube promised he would not only get the Government to back the game’s projects but, crucially, he would bring in a network of sponsors, both local and international, to breathe life into the game.

“I have the contacts locally and internationally to work with in changing the face of our game,” Dube said in his manifesto in 2010.

“I WILL BRING SPONSORSHIP TO ZIFA AND ALL ITS AFFILIATES. ALL THE AREA ZONES, DISTRICTS, PROVINCES AND PREMIER SOCCER LEAGUE SHALL BE REASONABLY RESOURCED.

GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT — Our game is yet to fully engage Government in respect of support for development and high performance issues. The multilateral technical co-operation agreements which Government has entered into are yet to be fully exploited by football. I will effectively engage Government for the benefit of all football structures in our country, Women Soccer included.

Our game needs maximum involvement of Government and, given my contacts at Government level, my Board shall re-engage Government with a package for Government involvement and facilitation. We shall renew Government’s confidence in our game and this shall form part of our turnaround strategy initiative.”

Today, five years later, the same man who promised to “bring sponsorship to ZIFA” and use his contacts to “re-engage Government with a package for Government involvement,” tells us he has “pumped in a lot of my personal resources into the game which should have been the duty of the Government.”

What has changed between then and now?

And, this is what Dube said about the national teams and sponsorship in his manifesto five years ago:

NATIONAL TEAMS — Once upon a time a regional powerhouse, the national team should reclaim their status of olden days. My Board, through partnerships with corporate and Government, shall ensure that strong national teams are put together through a sound technical system that shall only see the best of Zimbabwe’s players donning national team jerseys. Our teams will be afforded the much-needed exposure regionally and internationally.

Our national team has failed since 2006 to qualify for CAF and World Cup competitions as a result of poor preparations, inconsistent technical systems, poor funding and half-hearted performances, among several reasons. A team that qualifies for such grand events does the nation proud in terms of business, marketing and nation profile-building.

SPONSORSHIP — Our game lacks corporate partners who have not hidden their lack of confidence in our game. Traditional partners of football, the world over, are conspicuous by their absence in our game. Our game is short of strategic partners ranging from Government, diplomatic missions, UN departments, sister football associations, business concerns, the list is endless. Football needs partners to service various cost centres of the game. Very little has been done in terms of courting the strategic partners, without which football would not be a well resourced and connected concern.

A team shall be put together to mobilise sponsorship for the Association’s portfolios. The sponsorship will service development, general administration, marketing, NATIONAL TEAMS, infrastructural development and the regeneration of the Association.”

So, where did the “sponsorship”, which Dube promised would “service national teams” go now that he is singing a different tune and blaming the government for not bankrolling those teams?

But, then, this is the same man who said, in his election campaign in 2010, that in the event he wins the ZIFA presidency, the game would never be the same again.

“Upon getting your mandate to lead the game of football I (shall) acquit myself to the best of my abilities and football’s face should assume a new look,” said Dube in his manifesto.

“My Board shall re-operationalise ZIFA (Pvt) Ltd, turning it into an investment vehicle that shall be responsible for ZIFA’s movable and immovable assets and the investment drive.

“THE COMPANY SHALL BE REGISTERED ON THE STOCK EXCHANGE SO AS TO LEVERAGE ITS BUSINESS UNITS.

‘‘My Board will work on having self help units, namely farms and other investments. I am a visionary.

ZIFA will never be the same again under my leadership. ZIFA will regain its lost pride. Zimbabwe’s world ranking will be among the first fifty (50).”

Of course, that hasn’t happened.

Maybe, given that he is stuck in his reclusive world where he just sees the people who tell him all is well, he believes their songs, even if they tell him we are now number 10 in the world.