Zimpapers Logo

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
MORE than a third of their members don’t have a home, including seven clubs in the capital, while their neighbours to the south, east and west have all closed shop.

A test run, at Barbourfields on Saturday, was hijacked by marauding hooligans.

Some of the incoming members are struggling to raise the affiliation fees, the fixtures haven’t been released and a match-fixing saga, with a huge bearing on the membership, is yet to be resolved. Yet, someone, somehow, somewhere — because they were either powered by delusion or had just landed on Earth from Mars — still thought these were normal times.

And, as far as they were concerned, the domestic Premiership was set to go ahead, as scheduled, sometime this month.

That’s what happens when football leaders either don’t take charge, or simply don’t have the capacity, to discharge their responsibilities.

They take their followers on a merry-go-round that leads to nowhere.

And, in these dark times, it was ridiculous we were even talking about fixtures, or the absence of them, and payment of affiliation fees, or the lack of it.

It was even sheer madness that we were talking about football when life itself, the greatest gift we have received from the Lord, was now at stake.

We were talking as if these were normal times and, somehow, among our football leaders, it’s all this abnormality that somehow provided a sense of normalcy to them.

Because, in their world, that’s what is normal — just like the madness which gripped Barbourfields on Saturday — where rampaging mobs hijacked the Castle Cup Challenge.

The threat posed by the coronavirus is real.

And, the Botswana Football Association didn’t wait to have a confirmed case, within their borders, for them to make the wise decision to suspend their football programme.

They simply chose to be proactive, because that’s what makes a difference when dealing with this virus, and that’s what leaders are there for.

However, it appears our football leaders — despite the advantage provided by lessons from other countries  — were rather comfortable with settling for a reactive approach.

Reacting when things would have gone completely out of hand, long after our stadiums had been turned into death cages, where this virus would have found a fertile breeding ground. Long after our stadiums had been turned into theatres of death, where this virus is spread among fans, players, coaches, referees, team doctors and football writers and commentators, for them to finally see the light and act.

From the comfort of their homes, and probably in isolation, they were preparing to watch from a distance as all these people were turned into what Wayne Rooney, the former England captain, described as “guinea pigs”.

Sacrificed by some football leaders who just cared about satisfying sponsors, and generating money from the gate receipts, rather than the welfare of the stakeholders.

Compare their inaction to UEFA president, Aleksander Ceferin, whose organisation decided yesterday to postpone Euro 2020 to next season, and a gulf emerges.

“We are at the helm of a sport that vast numbers of people live and breathe that has been laid low by this invisible and fast-moving opponent,” said Ceferin.

“It is at times like these, that the football community needs to show responsibility, unity, solidarity and altruism.

“The health of fans, staff and players has to be our No. 1 priority and, in that spirit, UEFA tabled a range of options so that competitions can finish this season safely and I am proud of the response of my colleagues across European football.

‘‘There was a real spirit of co-operation, with everyone recognising that they had to sacrifice something in order to achieve the best result.”

On Monday, the ZIFA committee which decides whether a stadium meets requirements to host PSL matches, sent out their communique advising that Barboufields, Baobab, Mandava, Luveve, Gibbo and Vengere were the only ones which had passed the test.

What this meant was that preparations were underway for the league to start and Dynamos, CAPS United, Herentals, Yadah Stars, Black Rhinos, Harare City and Cranborne Bullets were homeless.

But, that’s not what was important, because the narrative shouldn’t have been about the stadiums, or lack of them, in an era where the future of the sport itself was at stake.

An era where this virus has paralysed, not only sport, but even life itself.

Just as well, the Government stepped in yesterday with President Mnangagwa announcing the suspension of domestic sports activities for, at least, two months.

That this declaration came, just a day after those in football chose to talk about stadiums, their fitness or lack of it, to host local Premiership matches this year, highlights the extent to which domestic football has been trapped in a quagmire of darkness.

Divorced from reality, it has been staggering in that gloom for some time now, and how we have treated the coronavirus outbreak — despite all the warning signs which suggested this wasn’t the time for us to behave as if everything was normal — highlights the leadership flaws in our national game.

When those in charge of South Sudan football, whose association was only founded in 2011 and affiliated to FIFA on May 25, 2012, can make decisions, on such important issues, faster than us, then we know we are in real trouble.

Yes, for all their lack of experience in managing football, the South Sudan football leaders announced on Sunday that all football competitions, in their country, had been suspended. They also called off a FIFA Referees’ Assessors Course and put on hold a CAF Match Commissioners’ course.

Their move came a day before the South Sudanese government banned social gatherings in the country to try and combat the spread of coronavirus.

We all wanted the domestic Premiership to start. For CAPS United fans to find a way to heal the wounds of last season’s sensational collapse, for Dynamos to rediscover their soul after losing their spirit last year and for Bosso to end 14 years of waiting to be champions.

But, we all know, it can’t happen in this current environment.

The only surprise is that our football leaders, for one reason or another, appeared to seeing something else and singing a different song.