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Philip Chiyangwa

IN a few days time Zimbabwe’s Warriors will be heading out of the country for the final leg of their preparations ahead of the 2017 African Cup of nations soccer tournament in Gabon.The senior men’s side is Zimbabwe’s flagship sports team and will be our ambassadors in Gabon from January 14 to February 5.

As we crossover into 2017, it is time that Zimbabweans show their united force in rallying behind coach Callisto Pasuwa as they go into battle in their group.

ZIFA alone, as has often been proved, are incapacitated to cater for the Warriors needs for such a mammoth task as the Nations Cup which is a continental soccer showpiece.

The association has done well to secure a $250 000 sponsorship package from mobile network provider NetOne, but the figure still falls short of the $400 000 that ZIFA have budgeted for to give the Warriors’ adequate preparations and crucially ensure that the players are well motivated.

NetOne timely boost will also help zifa avert the kind of problems such as bonus rows which normally affects national teams ahead of such big tournaments.

Sport and Recreation Minister Makhosini Hlongwane applauded his Cabinet colleague and Minister of Information, Communication Technology and Courrier Services Supa Mandiwanzira for playing a key role in facilitating the Netone sponsorship package that will bankroll the Warriors’ Afcon 2017 campaign.

We thus call upon Zimbabweans individually and collectively to come to the rescue of ZIFA and give the Warriors the best of preparations that would see them focus on football issues only.

Logistical challenges have already caused a delay to the start of the Warriors camp and as we report elsewhere in this edition, the senior team was by yesterday still grappling with accommodation issues as ZIFA does not have enough money to keep them in a city hotel until their departure for the AFCON tournament.

We cannot as a nation however, sit by and watch and we thus call upon other corporate entities to follow the route taken by NetOne and go into partnership with ZIFA.

There are many rewards that companies stand to reap from getting into bed with the Warriors brand and now is the time to showcase not only our unity, but our love for football and sport in general.

When the Warriors line-up together with 15 other teams that have qualified for this showpiece for the opening ceremony, it will be the Zimbabwe flag that will be hoisted and not the ZIFA flag thus if we fail Pasuwa and his men we would have failed the country and not ZIFA president Philip Chiyangwa and his execute committee.

On his part, Chiyangwa also assured national team coach Pasuwa and his troops that their allowances would be sorted since the money has already been availed.

“I don’t want the money to go into a Zifa account and suddenly get a garnishee order or court order, that’s why I said any sponsorship will go direct to the recipients and not through Zifa so that no creditor can get hold of it,” Chiyangwa said.

ZIFA also ought to do more and move mountains and not rest on their laurels if they are expecting the Warriors to deliver.

Our team qualified on collective efforts and now they need the off field teamwork of companies, the Government and individuals to turn their rich potential into success at AFCON and with our help as a nation they can achieve their goals.