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Christopher Charamba Sports Correspondent—
ASPIRING ZIFA vice president Lincoln Mutasa believes the domestic game has great potential to turn into a viable entity and wants Government to amend policies he feels are inhibiting the growth of the country’s biggest sport. Mutasa will be seeking to return into mainstream football administration, nearly three decades after his involvement at a higher level, when he competes with Omega Sibanda for the right to be ZIFA vice president.

The former Dynamos chairman has also set sights on ensuring the Warriors secure qualification for the 2022 World Cup. Mutasa, who played at right back for Dynamos before returning to lead the Glamour Boys in the 1980s, told The Herald of his ZIFA vision should the association’s councillors hand him the mandate to be the local football mother body’s second in command at the election set for December 5 in Harare.

He also wants the Mighty Warriors to be part of the 2023 Women’s World Cup jamboree. The Warriors might, however, miss out on the 2022 World Cup in similar fashion that saw them being booted out of the race for the 2018 showcase by FIFA, should ZIFA fail to settle the outstanding debt they owe Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet.

ZIFA were given until the end of December to pay off Saintfiet for his one-day stint as Warriors coach or face expulsion from the World Cup qualifiers. It is a matter that should he be elected into office, Mutasa and his fellow board members would have to urgently deal with.

But it is his vision of what ZIFA need to do to turn around the domestic game that Mutasa would have to sell to the councillors who form the Electoral College that he would have to grapple with first. Mutasa said with a clear vision, teamwork and a solid structure, ZIFA could get the Warriors and the Mighty Warriors onto the path for World Cup qualification.

“My ultimate goal is to get Zimbabwe to play in the World Cup in the 2022 and 2023 World Cups. I realise that for us to play in any of those World Cups, we need to get the structure right.

“Once the structure is right, we will continue to be able to go to the World Cup and that’s what we need to share with my other colleagues,” Mutasa said. Mutasa believes Zimbabwe has the necessary talent at home and abroad to get to the World Cups, but a lot of players opt out of playing football because it has been offering them little financial reward and is not a sustainable career.

It is Mutasa’s argument that if Zimbabwe had very good programmes that could take care of players after their playing career “we would be able to get even more talented players than we have right now’’.

Mutasa believes that in order to fix the problems that ZIFA and Zimbabwean football are facing, it is necessary to look at the policies that negatively impact on the game in the country and change them.

“I believe all these issues that we are facing are a result of policies made in our early years as a nation. We certainly had every right to make those policies and I defend that, but some of them have had an adverse effect on football.

“For us to fix this, it requires us to sit down with all the key stakeholders and look at these policies and come up with a new business model. Let’s re-examine each policy and ask is it helpful?” Some of the policies that Mutasa feels need review are the taxes levied on football clubs which have been bleeding the life out of the teams, leaving them on the brink of bankruptcy.

“When a game is played, so many people take out money, the council gets its rent, the Sports Commission gets its commission and the police get paid as well. “It’s something that people need to look at if we are to come up with a realistic model and if we are to get our football sustainable. We need to get the clubs to get more money pouring in because that will have a ripple effect on their own survival

“I know a lot of people think bringing in sponsors is the solution, but that should come to enhance what is already there . . . when you are already viable.’’ Mutasa also acknowledged the need to inculcate corporate governance in ZIFA and get the association’s house in order by showing accountability and professionalism. The former Dynamos defender believes that the incoming board needs to work as a team with a clear vision. He has been meeting and communicating with councillors sharing his manifesto which he says has five main points.

“My vision for Zimbabwean football is simple and clear. The first point is to play at the World Cup. I want to bring respectability to the association. I also want to see the viability of local clubs as it will attract new talented players and also sponsors.

“I am keen on the welfare of players to ensure that they have sustainability and a livelihood after their playing careers are over. Finally I want to make the game enjoyable right across the board. It’s a family sport and we should have a situation where families are happy to visit Rufaro as an outing even when there is no game”.

Mutasa credited with turning around Dynamos and acquiring investments for the Harare giants during his tenure, believes that when the ZIFA board is doing its job “it should not be talked about’’ and grab unnecessary media attention. “Those making the headlines should be those on the playing field and the coaches’’. An engineer by profession Mutasa played for Dynamos between 1981-84, but a year before his retirement he had begun doubling up as chairman and player.

Mutasa then led the club up to 1987 not before Dynamos had won numerous accolades in a trailblazing period during which he also acquired investments such as a sports shop along Julius Nyerere Way, a club house near the ZIFA headquarters and a stand intended for a stadium in Waterfalls.

Since he left Dynamos in 1987, Mutasa has largely stayed away from the public domain in as far as football is concerned. He, however, attributed DeMbare’s dominance during his era as chairman partly to his decision to invest the coaching careers of Sunday Chidzambwa and the late Obadiah Sarupinda whom he sent to Brazil for coaching courses.

The duo brought a new playing style and philosophy on their return from the course with Chidzambwa going to become a history-making coach with both Dynamos and the Warriors. Mutasa also said during his time at the helm of the club, the welfare of Dynamos drastically improved with many able to buy their own houses and cars.

Notably during his era as the Dynamos boss, the club also sold independent Zimbabwe’s first export player — Moses Chunga — to Belgium.