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SHARUKO ON SATURDAY
ONE of my enduring passion has always been reading, a love affair that probably was started by my late father, back in the days he used to spend hours teaching me how to read and write before I had even enrolled for my first grade.

I read a lot of material, even ranking the quality or lack of it, the way the writers introduce their subject, develop their stories and then provide a guided tour to the conclusion.

Writing is an art and, in its purity, just like vintage single malt Scotch whisky, is simply irresistible and whether or not you agree with what you would be reading certainly becomes irrelevant as you are consumed by the quality of the material.

For years, I just could not find a better introduction to the way Charles Dickens welcomes his readers to his classic novel Great Expectations when Philip Pirrip, the central figure in the story, tells us — “My father’s family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip.” That is, until, on New Year’s Day, 2013, when British journalist Mike Selvey penned a classic obituary of legendary cricket writer and broadcaster Christopher Martin-Jenkins, notorious for being late in just about everything he did in his life.

“The late Christopher Martin-Jenkins, we always said it had a pertinent ring to it, because generally that is what he was, and now he really is,’’ wrote Selvey in The Guardian newspaper in a classic spin of the word ‘late’.

Or that guy who came up with the classic headline — APRIL GAMBLE COSTS MAY IN JUNE — to capture how British Prime Minister Theresa May’s gamble, in April, to call a snap election she thought her party would win only for them to suffer a huge embarrassment at the polls in June.

My enduring passion for reading, this week, sent me scavenging on reports around the world because I knew that, given the number of significant issues in the past seven days, there was a lot of content to provide both company and analysis.

After all, Bafana Bafana had, for the FIRST time in a competitive game, beaten the Super Eagles, Zambia had for the FIRST time since 1968, crashed to defeat in an AFCON game in their Ndola fortress, beaten by a Mozambique side which had never beaten Chipolopolo in 20 international matches.

And, for the FIRST time in our history, we had been finally been afforded the privilege to be proud witnesses of a Warriors’ captain scoring a hat-trick in a Nations Cup match.

A huge story also exploded around the world when the Spanish prosecutor announced that football’s biggest superstar and ultimate poster boy, Cristiano Ronaldo, was being charged in a tax fraud case involving more than $16,5 million.

Inevitably, the announcement triggered a tsunami in world football given Ronaldo’s huge profile.

It’s a road we have travelled before, with Ronaldo’s only rival for the tag of the world’s best footballer, Lionel Messi, last month losing an appeal to have his 21-day prison sentence, for tax fraud, being dismissed by the Spanish Supreme Court.

Of course, Messi won’t serve jail because he is a first offender and in Spain that comes with some privileges, but given his status as high-flying sportsman who has a lot of endorsements from companies, to have the record of convicted fraudster in his profile is an unwelcome stain.

Because, this means Messi will now always be classified among a group of tax cheats whose membership include infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone.

What made Ronaldo’s case shake the world, in a way Messi’s case probably didn’t, was the huge amount involved in the Portuguese captain’s fraud case, a staggering $16,5 million, more than four times the value of what the Argentina skipper was found guilty of defrauding tax authorities.

SCAVENGING THROUGH THE MADRID MEDIA PROVIDES A LOT OF INSIGHT

The biggest daily newspaper in Spain is Marca, a sports paper which next year will celebrate its 80th anniversary and has a loyal readership of more than 2,5 million everyday — the highest in that country by a considerable distance.

Last year, Marca was ranked the most influential sports newspaper in the world.

This week, driven by my fiery reading passion, I scavenged the Madrid media, and that means reading a lot of Marca, a lot of AS, a lot of El Pais, trying to find out how they reacted to Ronaldo being charged for tax fraud.

I picked out that, all the editors of the Madrid newspapers, including Marca, chose to downplay the Ronaldo fraud story throughout the week and, significantly, on the occasions they featured him on their front pages, in relation to story, his pictures were not in the colours of Real Madrid, but of Portugal.

Not once, in all the Madrid newspapers, did I see a picture of Ronaldo, in the story related to that fraud case, in a Real Madrid jersey as if the editors were united, in their decision-making, that they couldn’t link the iconic jersey of their European and world champions — a source of huge pride in that city and country — to a fraud case.

To them, players — even someone as iconic as Cristiano Ronaldo — come and go, but Real Madrid will always be there. To them, this massive club was there even before the original Ronaldo, that boy from Brazil, and it survived his departure the same way it survived the departure of an even bigger star called Alfredo di Stefano.

And, therefore, even though journalism dictates they have to run a damaging story about Cristiano’s ugly flirtation with accusations of being a tax cheat or tax fraudster, whatever suits you, they carry a responsibility to try and ensure they minimise, as much as possible, the corrosive damage this could have on the brand Real Madrid.

And, scavenging through the Madrid media, I also found out I wasn’t the only one who noticed this with Spanish journalist Lluis Mascaro also noting this in a report he did for the Sport newspaper on Wednesday in which he notes that “all the major (Madrid) newspapers show Ronaldo in Portugal colours.’’

He also notes, in the same report, that “El Pais (another Madrid newspaper) features the Ronaldo story in a smaller section, while on page 33, Ronaldo appears in Portugal training gear.

“El Mundo features Ronaldo in a reduced space on the cover, once again in Portugal training wear, as for ABC, the ‘Ronaldo Case’ doesn’t even make the cover (but) inside two pages, yes, dressed in Portugal’s kit once again (while) in La Razon, Ronaldo’s tax evasion case is also omitted from the cover.’’

Sid Lowe, probably the best English journalist covering Spanish football, also picked it up and put the case on his Twitter page on Wednesday.

JOURNALISM CARRIES A WEIGHT OF RESPONSIBILITY, IN MADRID AS MUCH AS IN HARARE

Yes, we might try to crawl into denial and say this and that, argue this and that, spend days, weeks, months or even years discussing this and that, but the brutal truth is that mainstream journalism carries a weight of responsibility, in Madrid as much as it does in Harare.

That responsibility includes being guided by national interest, with sports journalism in this country always fronting the interests of such national institutions like the Warriors, the Young Warriors, the Mighty Warriors, the Chevrons, you name them. And, in an era where social media has created a platform where the reader can be bombarded with anything and everything, including what Donald Trump calls fake news, the onus on the mainstream media to publish the real news has never been any greater, any tougher.

On the interactive forum of African football journalists and administrators this week, one of our foreign colleagues posted a picture of Kuda Mahachi and Marvelous Nakamba warming up at the National Sports Stadium in a Joma kit, asking us, the Zimbabwean journalists on the forum, to explain why this was the case when the Warriors were being kitted by Mafro.

At least, he asked, and I explained that the image wasn’t taken on Sunday, but was from way back. But what was depressing about this is that it was clear he had picked this conversation from other forums across Africa where this picture had long been accepted as another example of the rampant confusion pregnant in Zimbabwean football.

The real news that we had thrashed Liberia 3-0 and Knowledge Musona was the leading 2019 AFCON qualifying goal-scorer probably didn’t interest them because, as far as they are concerned, we aren’t a nation that should provide such feel-good stories, but one that should always be trapped in a pool of negativity.

The real news that we could sit on top of a group that has the DRC, even after the first round of fixtures, was something they were either finding hard to believe or desperate to replace with a negative spin of an old image of Mahachi and Nakamba in a kit our boys no longer use just to feed their conspiracy that nothing positive happens here.

Then, just after I had clarified the fake news about the kit, another one said he couldn’t understand all the buzz about the Warriors because, in his argument, they had terribly struggled to score at the 2017 Nations Cup finals in Gabon.

And, once again, I had to provide the explanation our boys scored four goals in their three matches in Gabon, more goals than eventual champions Cameroon (3) scored in Group A, double the number of goals Gabon, scored, double the number of goals Cote d’Ivoire scored, double the number Adebayor’s Togo scored, double the number eventual losing finalists Egypt scored in their group and double the number Ghana scored in their group.

That we outscored the entire Group D that had Egypt, Ghana, Mali and Uganda, no Group A team outscored us and only Senegal (six), Tunisia (six), DRC (six) and Algeria (five) — just four out of 16 teams — scored more group goals than us in Gabon.

But, can we really blame these foreigners, who always see gloom when it comes to us, when we appear to be the experts in rubbishing our team and, by extension our country, by being fascinated with only negativity, including some that might not have any foundation at all?

When we find ourselves in an era where we either all have to sing the song that some people want to listen to, for their reasons, or we risk the danger of being labelled either bastards or, if they choose to be less brutal in their condemnation, they say were are a poor clone of singer Jah Jecha and his group Orchestra Mapisi Endege.

When we all have to move in their pack, in the same direction and in the event you choose otherwise you are described as hopeless, useless, reckless, brainless, directionless, visionless, an individual who is an insult to what they claim, or rather believe, should define journalism. You even have to believe in their religion, prophets, pastors, deacons, bishops, in their beliefs because believing in someone they don’t like is the closest thing to being a disciple of the Satanic Verses or you have been paid to believe in a different manner.

MADRID MEDIA’S TREATMENT OF RONALDO AND OUR SAVAGE TREATMENT OF MUSONA

If you doubt there is a huge difference in how journalism elsewhere carries a weight of responsibility while ours appears a carefree demonisation weapon of our sporting icons, or those who try to play a part in the realisation of these sportsmen’s dreams, then just try to compare the Madrid’s media reaction to Ronaldo’s multi-million dollar tax evasion charge and the hysterical way we responded to reports Musona had placed bets on matches in Belgium last year?

In just a flash we, the local media, rushed to pass judgment on the Smiling Assassin, including, but not limited to the use of sickening language so brutal you would think he wasn’t one of us, with some pronouncing lengthy bans on him while others even said this was the beginning of the end of his career.

Some of us quickly fed our readers with false stories Musona had placed bets on matches he was playing, including wild claims he had bet he would miss penalties in matches he knew he was the penalty-taker for his Belgian club and which he could manipulate by easily shooting off target.

“What has been reported so far — Musona named as one of five or six players in the gambling scandal, Musona admitted to betting on matches he was involved in,’’ screamed on local media outlet.

While his club backed him, we transformed ourselves into the prosecution and, even worse, the judges who pronounced the guilty verdict at a time when our golden boy, just like Cristiano Ronaldo today, needed the support of his home media in a case his so-called crime had not been proved.

And now, without any apparent shame at all, we take the lead in saluting him as a superman, the first Warrior to score an AFCON hat-trick, without even reminding our readers that this was the very man whom — just nine months ago — we were telling you his career was over because he was going to face a lengthy FIFA ban.

What a privileged people we are, those who will have their cake and eat it, vomit it, and try and make it again in exactly the shape and taste that it was before our voracious appetite took over our senses, always the judges and never the judged.

Lucky you Cristiano Ronaldo, just imagine if you were Musona?

Of course, the world moves on, with or without our hatred disguised as journalism and Pakistan are in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy tomorrow against India, thanks to the exploits of a fast bowler Mohamed Amir who served a six-month prison sentence in England — just six years ago — for spot-fixing.

Imagine if Amir was Musona?

Can you believe Zambia have won only one of their last seven AFCON games (1-1 against Kenya; 2-3 loss to Guinea Bissau; 1-1 against Congo-Brazzaville; 1-1 against Congo-Brazzaville; 2-1 win over Kenya; 0-0 against Guinea Bissau and a 0-1 loss to Mozambique)?

Can you believe South Africa have only won two of their last seven AFCON games (0-0 against Gambia; 1-3 loss to Mauritania; 2-2 against Cameroon; 0-0 against Cameroon; 4-0 win over Gambia; 1-1 against Mauritania and a 2-0 win over Nigeria)?

Imagine if they were the Warriors?

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Khamaldinhooooooooooooooooo!

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