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FOR all the challenges which Covid-19 has brought, it’s refreshing to note that we still have some sports leaders out there, who are striving to ensure that their disciplines don’t end up being buried by the pandemic.

Men and women who, when their administrative capacity has been challenged, like never before, have refused to let this crisis turn itself into the Armageddon of the sports codes they swore to serve, as public servants, for the good of their country.

The arrival of the Pakistan women’s cricket side in Harare on Thursday evening, for their eagerly-awaited cricket series against their Zimbabwean counterparts, is another good example of how some of our sports leaders are moving mountains in these tough times.

Rather than fold their arms, waiting for every opportunity that comes with being invited to an occasion, in foreign lands where they pocket the good allowances that come with that, these leaders have been fighting on the frontline to ensure their sporting disciplines don’t collapse.

They have been battling to give the players, who look up to them for guidance, are given, at least, a chance to be active, in their chosen sports, one way or another.

The people who run our cricket are not saints, they have their underlying flaws, they have made a number of blunders in the past and they have been found wanting, now and again, which probably explains why we are no longer the serial giant-killers that we were in the past.

But, we also have to be fair to them that, since this pandemic broke out, they have rolled their sleeves, flexed their muscles, and confronted the challenges like true leaders, giving the country’s second biggest sporting discipline a fighting chance.

Last year, they put the Chevrons into a bio-secure bubble, and sent them to Pakistan where our national team picked 10 priceless points, in their bid to qualify for the next ICC Cricket World Cup.

They then arranged their domestic programme, with their players and officials being kept in that bio-bubble, while also giving their women’s teams a chance to go out on the field and play the game they love.

Now, the Lady Chevrons have been presented with a golden chance, to boost their preparations for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers, by taking on Pakistan in three 50-over matches and as many T20Is at the Harare Sports Club.

Initially, the two teams were set to play five matches, but the two countries have added another T20I, which once again demonstrates that the thrust, for their leaders, is to try and ensure that the players get as much competitive game time as possible.

Pakistan have been touring South Africa, where they lost the ODI series 3-0 and the T20I series 1-2, which is all part of their leaders’ efforts to make sure that their players get as much time, out on the crease, as possible.

We can see the vision which the Zimbabwe Cricket leaders, led by Tavengwa Mukuhlani, has for the Lady Chevrons who, in the past two years, have dealt with considerable adversity, including having to endure the dejection of being kicked out of the ICC T20 World Cup.

While a lot of investment is being poured into the Lady Chevrons, by leaders who know that their mandate is to deliver for the players, the same cannot be said for the Mighty Warriors.

We get a feeling that, ever since the current ZIFA leadership came into office, the Mighty Warriors, in particular, and women’s football, in general, has been tossed to the back seat, and no one cares anymore about its welfare.

FIFA, just like other international sporting organisations, have been on a deliberate, and aggressive, thrust to make sure that women’s sport is elevated to a status where its athletes also get the same benefits which their male counterparts have been getting.

That is why the world football governing body, specifically, gave US$500 000, into each of their member associations around the world, to be used specifically to inject life into women’s football.

We don’t really know what that money was used for, by our football leaders, since women’s football, in this country, remains on the same death bed, where it was lying, before this huge cash injection was unveiled.

Amid all this, the person who was elected to lead women football in this country, Barbra Chikosi, has been conspicuous by her silence, withdrawing into a shell, at a time when everyone was expecting her to give the leadership she promised us.

It’s unacceptable that our Mighty Warriors, who just five years ago were good enough to play at the Olympics, have now been reduced into a shell and, it appears, the worst for them is yet to come.

If we are not careful, soon, these very people who appear intent on destroying our football, will ensure that, because of their administrative shortcomings, they also destroy our iconic domestic brands like Dynamos, CAPS United and Highlanders by ensuring they don’t have any action at all. They can’t keep hiding behind Covid-19 because, as the Zimbabwe Cricket leaders are showing, real leadership can make a change in these hard times.

All they need is to pick up the phone, call their counterparts at ZC, and find how these guys are navigating these challenges times so that our football can be given a chance again.

Or, if they can’t do that, then they should simply pack their bags and leave.