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association by bankrolling the Warriors’ trip to Mali and ensuring that the senior national team resumes their African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
The Warriors will face the Eagles of Mali in a Group A qualifier at the 26 March Stadium in Bamako on Saturday night.
Coach Norman Mapeza and his charges flew into the Malian capital late yesterday afternoon following a flight that took them from Harare via Nairobi, Kenya.
But it emerged that the Warriors were in danger of failing to fulfil the fixture after Zifa failed to secure any financial support from ei-ther the Government or the corporate sector.
That would have had severe ramifications on the national game as it would not only have resulted in Zimbabwe being suspended and fined heavily by the Confederation of African Football but also thrown Group A into turmoil.
However, Dube – as he has often done since he took over as association president on March 27 last year – had to dig deep into his pockets to secure the US$200 000 that catered for the Warriors’ travel, the players’ allowa-nces, appearance fees and food.
Acting Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze confirmed that they had been left with no choice but to turn to their president after all their efforts to secure funding in the last few months failed to yield any success.
“I can confirm that the Warriors left in high spirits in the early hours of Wednesday after we managed to secure funding through the president for their travel, upkeep and appearance fees. This is why there were no reports of the team being stranded this time around,” Mashingaidze said.
This, however, is not the first time that Dube – who leads a 13-member board – has had to solely carry the burden of keeping Zifa afloat in a tough operating environment.
That Dube also had to make sacrifices for the sake of the national game has heaped pressure on the rest of the 13 member Zifa board to put their shoulders to the wheel and start delivering on their election promises to help turn around the fortunes of the game.
Questions have also been asked whether it will be sustainable in the long run for the soccer mother body to continue relying on the Harare business executive’s personal coffers if football in the country will develop another level. It emerged that in the latest instance, Dube, who has also been paying the salaries of Zifa staff, had to surrender the title deeds to his house in order to secure a loan from a local bank, which was used for the Warriors assignment. The Zifa president declined to discuss the efforts he has made to keep the association afloat, insisting that what was critical was to ensure that the Warriors were assisted in their endeavour to compete for a place at the 2012 Nations Cup.
“All I can say at the moment is that it is true that I had to surrender the title deeds to my home which served as a guarantee at the bank and Mashingaidze was handling all that.
“I am happy to note that the Warriors left Harare in high spirits knowing that if they win they will also be immediately paid their winning bonuses so the task is upon them now to deliver.
“Our only worry as far as this assignment is concerned is that of injuries to some of the players and the humidity in Bamako which we have heard about but otherwise all the house-keeping issues related to the team and the technical department have been sorted out.
“I took over a technically broke Zifa. Zifa needed and still needs recapitalisation if it is to be functional. I made and shall continue making personal sacrifices, materially and financially to rescue our game.
“Zifa’s rescue package should be driven by the leadership and that is why I have had to use my own resources including risking my properties for us to access funds from banks, all in the name of the game,” Dube said
Gabon and Equatorial Guinea will co-host the 2012 Nations Cup and the Warriors currently third in their group with two points, know that they just have to finish top of their pool to be guaranteed a place among the 16 finalists at the biennial continental soccer jamboree.
Only the group winners, the runners-up from Group K which has five teams and the two best runners-up from 10 other groups including Group A qualify for the finals.
But Mapeza and his men know they cannot afford to take chances and would have to grind out a result in Bamako to remain in contention. The Warriors are two points behind leaders Cape Verde who host bottom-placed Liberia in Praia at the weekend while Mali are second with three points and the Lone Star anchor the standings with just a point.
The delicate Group A standings have made it imperative for the Warriors to pick up at least a point from their away matches and win all their remaining games at home to keep alive their hopes of returning to the Nations Cup where they last featured in 2006 in Egypt.
Before they can focus to their other assignments, the Warriors would have to clear the Bamako hurdle by evoking the spirit of the 2003 class under Sunday Chidzambwa, which battled for a point that later turned out to be crucial in their qualification for the 2004 Nations Cup in Tunisia.
But thanks to the efforts of their Zifa president, the Warriors will live to fight another day in this campaign in which they have managed two draws so far against Liberia (1-1 away) and Cape Verde (0-0) at the National Sports Stadium.
Yet as the Warriors go into battle on Saturday night and the Zifa assembly prepares to meet in the capital for an annual indaba on the morning of that game, there have been disturbing reports that those opposed to the appointment of Mapeza as coach are plotting to try and initiate a reversal of the move.
Dube has, however, insisted that the former Monomotapa coach’s appointment was never done unilaterally after the Zifa board tasked its presidium to deal with the matter.
This was after the botched manner in which the association’s technical committee went about the recruitment of former Namibia gaffer Tom Saintfiet as Warriors coach.
The Belgian, now coaching in Jordan, eventually failed to take up the Warriors job after failing to secure a work permit.
With corporate confidence slowly clawing back into the game via such Zifa affiliates like the PSL and the Women’s game, the Zifa assembly needs more unity than divisions centred on petty jealousy or regionalism.
The Warriors could also focus more on the game knowing that their leadership back home is united behind their cause.