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Paddington Japajapa

Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
THE ZIMBABWE National Soccer Supporters Association say they have upped the tempo in mending relations with the Zifa board whom they expect to meet at a football indaba to be held soon.ZNSSA public relations and communication officer Paddington Japajapa said the indaba is expected to feature all stakeholders involved in football.
Japajapa said they have been talking to Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Andrew Langa to try and bring everyone in the national game together,

“We have been engaging Zifa from a distance. We have tried to engage them in the past for dialogue and discussions, but the Zifa board was not forthcoming.

“We then resorted to throwing bombs at each other, but that did not produce any meaningful results.  So we have discovered that it’s counter-productive and does not bring development to the game for the benefit of the nation.

“The minister of Sport, Arts and Culture called us to his office some two weeks ago for an open discussion.  The minister was very frank with us and we regretted not having engaged him in the past because we thought he is an unapproachable minister.

“The minister said we needed to sit face-to-face at a meeting that will feature the Sports Commission, the entire Zifa board, ourselves and everyone who has an interest in the game,” said Japajapa.

Japajapa said they are optimistic their concerns will be addressed including their lobby for Zifa to bring a close to the Asiagate controversy.

“It’s going to be a great football indaba, never seen in this country before. We are going to appeal to Zifa to bring this Asiagate thing to a close because it has gone for too long and we believe there should be a blanket amnesty for everyone because a lot of people have already suffered enough.

“I am sure the minister will be able to help us in areas that we might have disagreements and, having talked to him in our meeting, we feel he is a man who can make things work.

“He doesn’t want confrontation and wants to see people engaging each other and working for the benefit of the game. He is a very good and progressive minister and we have a lot of confidence that he will make a big difference in our football.”