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Dr Chombo

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
ZANU-PF has bemoaned the poor state of sport in the country, with the ruling party particularly concerned with the “chaos” at Zifa that has paralysed a national sporting discipline, burdened by debt, which has punched below its weight.
The ruling party is also concerned with the challenges that continue to stalk Zimbabwe Cricket, the failure by its leadership to provide a lasting solution to the financial challenges that haunt the game, and how this has had a negative impact on the competitiveness of the national team.

The ZANU-PF 14th Annual National People’s Conference, which ended in Chinhoyi on Saturday, discussed the state of sport in the country and measures that should be put in place to arrest the slide, in areas like football where there is decay, while strengthening those disciplines that were showing promise.

The challenges facing the mainstream disciplines of football, cricket, athletics and rugby were noted while concern was raised over the lack of transparency in the way a number of sporting disciplines were being administered.

The Warriors have just completed their worst World Cup campaign in history, failing to win any of their six group matches, while also being dethroned as champions of the Cosafa Cup following their defeat in the final at the hands of Zambia.

Zifa have struggled under a mountain of debt, needing to be bailed out on a number of occasions by their president Cuthbert Dube, and the Young Warriors competed at the recent Cosafa Youth Championships using one unbranded kit that did not give them the identity of a national team.

Members of Parliament tried, without success, in the past two weeks to discuss the challenges facing Zifa with the association’s leadership who face elections, for the right to remain in their positions, in March next year.

Zimbabwe Cricket has struggled to deal with a funding crisis, in an association that incurs huge operational costs, and last week players threatened to abandon the domestic cricket programme unless they are paid outstanding dues.

Reports have suggested that ZC are waiting for a US$4 million bailout from the International Cricket Council which will go a long way in easing the financial pressure on the organisation.

The ZANU-PF committee on sport, art, culture, religion and liberation war heritage, adopted a resolution in Chinhoyi on Saturday that “Government should make sure that sports associations are run in a transparent and professional manner and that they are properly funded.”

The committee’s chairman, Ignatius Chombo, who is the Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister,  told The Herald yesterday the ruling party was concerned about the poor state of sport in the country.

“We resolved that the chaos at Zifa and the PSL should be immediately dealt with,” said Chombo.
“Soccer is our national sport but its current state doesn’t justify that.

“Soccer should enjoy unlimited funding but that is not happening because sponsors can’t put in their money where they don’t know how that money is spent.

“There are challenges in cricket and a number of other sports associations, the manner they are being run, is it professional that it promotes the growth of sport?

“There is gross mismanagement of sport and that is why we have not realised our full potential.
“Football is a big industry and we see that it’s a big when our players go to South Africa, when the same players are here they are not an industry.

“Don’t we see the talent that we have and why are we failing to make their sport a big industry just like what those in South Africa do when they get our players?”

Chombo said they noted that domestic football hasn’t been helped by the lack of transparency in the game.
“We have a situation where Dynamos plays in the African safari, they are paid for that and somehow the money disappears before it even gets to the players,” said Chombo.

“When soccer was soccer in this country,  l think l was 15 or 17 years then, Castle Breweries used to run our soccer in its entirety.
“Barclays Bank would come and collect the money from the stadium with their vans taking it to the banks after matches.

“The next morning the service providers would be paid by the bank, in cheques, and it was very systematic and a professional way of running football.

“Now we have people waiting at the cash offices at the stadium to be paid cash, it’s nonsense.
“Even when l went to football matches with Mboma (former Zifa treasurer, Michael), and Madzima (former Zifa boss, John), l had a ticket that was paid for but today half the VIP has people who have come into the stadium for free.

“If you are going to invite reporters, ministers and you want 200 tickets in the VIP for this then make sure someone is paying for those tickets because, ultimately, there should be something that is generated to help the players.
“We need to work on this and even Fifa want to see things being done properly.”

Chombo said they also discussed the need for the country to adopt programmes that will ensure talent is identified at an early age and nurtured accordingly.

“We have to look for primary school kids with talent, identify schools that can help them develop that talent whether be it in football or cricket or any other sport,” said Chombo.

“Our athletes, physically, are smaller compared to their counterparts in the region and we need to look at issues like nutrition, it’s not about money but the level of our organisation.

“We need to promote health through playing sport and making sure that our people have access to sport.
“The next phase, after our resolutions, is for the responsible ministry to now come up with programmes that should ensure fulfilment of those resolutions.

“We need programmes where companies can be lured to support our sport in exchange of tax-free incentives in the event the sponsorship is to a certain figure.

“We now have a standalone Ministry of Sport and that gives us confidence that it won’t be business as usual because the message that came out was that, as a party,  we are not happy with the state of our sport.”

Minister Chombo speaks about an ambitious youth development programme in sport discussed at the conference and the issue regarding the high levies paid by clubs to councils for use of the stadiums.