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The Rhodesia Herald, December 9 1967
AT 43 years of age, Mr John Madzima became the first African to be elected chairman of the world recognised soccer body.

A shrewd soccer administrator, Mr Madzima was elected first chairman of the Mashonaland Football Club.

He served as chairman of Salisbury and District AFA, and was president of the Mashonaland Provincial Association.

Later he was elected president of the Southern Rhodesia African Football Association.

All these bodies catered for African amateur football.

Mr Madzima, an ardent supporter of multi-racial sport, decided to quit the Southern Rhodesia African Football Association on his own accord to help start multi-racial professional soccer in Rhodesia.

And when the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Football league was formed, he became one of its first directors, together with Mr Geoff Ellman-Brown and Mr Charles Taber.

There were two main professional teams then — Salisbury City and Salisbury United — and for the latter he was vice chairman to the late Mr Ken Fox.

When Salisbury United and Salisbury City disbanded and the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Football league folded, Mr Madzima was left with no alternative, but to look for someone still interested in multi-racial football.

For a short while, Mr Madzima helped to form what was known as the Central African Football Association (CENTAFA), which was composed of African, Coloured and Asian clubs.

This was disbanded when in 1962 Mr Madzima joined Mr Syd Matthews and others to found what is today the RNFL and he became its vice-chairman in its first year, a position he held until elected chairman.

After being elected chairman of RNFL, Mr Madzima said: “It is a great honour for me and an unforgettable one. But my task, although big, is to promote soccer and to see that it is brought to the outlying districts of Rhodesia through the RNFL.

“I will do all in my power to follow in the footsteps of my predecessor, to whom I owe a lot. I shall not fail to seek his advice whenever possible.”

LESSONS FOR TODAY
 The Madzimas are one of the most prominent families in both pre- and post-Independent Zimbabwe. Streets have been named after them for posterity and to thank them for their pro-people development initiatives.

Dedication and commitment to the development of sport is what defined people like Mr John Madzima

Sports administration in the colonial era was the preserve of whites, but Mr Madzima managed to break the racial barrier to go to the top echelons of leadership.

The irony is that while Rhodesians wanted to control everything and everyone, the post-Independent era has seen them not participating in sporting activities like soccer, where blacks are the majority, even at management level. Instead, Europeans are willing to be soccer coaches in Zimbabwe.

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