The Sunday Mail
THE danger with embarking on this path includes having everything, including the kitchen sink, being thrown one’s way. One can be labelled unpatriotic, a doom sayer among a host of unpleasant terms. However, someone has to take the plunge and point out some hard, truthful facts.
Zimbabwe needs a reality check.
A man who has had a massive influence on the life of the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Walter Mzembi has had the same effect on the writer.
That man, a God’s General, teaches: “If you can conceive it, you can possess it.” That man is Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa.
However, there appears to be a wall of Jericho in the writer’s mind as far as trying to imagine Zimbabwe hosting the FIFA 2034 World Cup is concerned.
Ever since reading Minister Mzembi emerging from a meeting with Sudan-based footballer Edward “Duduza” Sadomba to announce that Zimbabwe might bid to host the world soccer showcase in 20 years’ time, the writer’s mind has been in overdrive.
Just how do we pull this one off?
In short, a decision to bid for the World Cup seems far-fetched and overly ambitious.
Before going into the crunch of it, there are questions that need to be answered: why do we want to host the World Cup in 2034? Do we want to feel good or boost the economy? Or is this making a political statement?
It’s important to note that countries host the World Cup at a massive loss, spending over US$10 billion for a month-long event which generates an estimated US$3,5 billion, most which finds its way into FIFA’s coffers.
“I spoke to FIFA president Sepp Blatter during the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa and he told me that it was possible for Zimbabwe to host the 2034 Fifa World Cup as long as we keep on having such big dreams and vision,” Minister Mzembi said as he made the ambitious announcement.
Blatter is a wily old fox. He knows what people want to hear.
Minister Mzembi could have been told the Gospel he wanted to hear by the Swiss politician.
And if you thought Minister Mzembi was misquoted he was in the National Assembly a few days later saying: “Nothing can stop us from hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup and we are going to put our bid it to host it no matter what.”
Our beloved nation needs a miracle to successfully bid for the 2034 FIFA World Cup because there are a cocktail of factors that can, collectively or individually, stop us from successfully mounting a bid.
First, our economy can stop us for realising the World Cup dream.
A quick perusal of the financial accounts of countries who have hosted the World Cup in the past will show you that you need over US$10 billion to pull it off.
Our National Budget for this year is US$4,4 billion.
And Zimbabwe could need more than US$10 billion because our infrastructure is miles behind that of countries that have invested that much to prepare for the World Cup.
Zimbabwe will need to channel billions into constructing stadia, renovating airports, road networks, the telecoms industry, roads, hotels, energy and water, among other things.
Millions of dollars will be needed just to prepare the bid, which will be expected to be ready about 10 years from now.
There seems to be a mistaken belief that the first step is to put in a bid and then start to move as soon as the FIFA president takes to the podium, gets handed an envelope, opens it, and announces: “The host of the Fifa 2034 World Cup is…Zimbabwe!”
Already we know that after Brazil the World Cup will be heading to Russia, and then Qatar in 2022.
The bidding itself is a dirty political affair, which starts years before the event with countries tearing into rival bids like hungry lions.
Millions of dollars are said to exchange hands every time the FIFA assembly votes for a World Cup host.
Are we ready for this expensive war?
Brazil pumped an estimated US$14 billion into the month-long jamboree which comes to a thrilling climax with the final between Argentina and Germany today.
Will our economy have grown enough by 2034 to enable us to spare such money?
Four years after hosting 32 of the world’s best football teams, South Africans are divided on whether or not the US$10 billion extravaganza was worth it.
Wouldn’t the money have been better spent on improving social infrastructure, they still ask.
The build up to this year’s edition was characterised by a series of protests by Brazilians who strongly believed that the money ought to have been better utilised.
A poll by the Pew Research Centre revealed that 61 percent of respondents felt hosting the World Cup would be bad for Brazil and pressure groups claimed that it would benefit only “a selected few”.
Our bid dream is premised on FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s rotational policy, which if implemented to the letter will see the soccer showcase coming back to Africa in 2034.
Our proximity to South Africa diminishes our chances of getting the right to host the event.
North, West and East African countries will argue that they deserve to host the showcase after Southern Africa broke the continent’s hoodoo in 2010.
Our bid will have to be extremely compelling to make FIFA bring the World Cup to Southern Africa for a second time when other regions also want a piece of the action.
The country’s lack of experience in hosting major sporting events may also be a massive, massive disadvantage.
With all due respect the World Cup cannot be compared to the World Tourism Organisation General Assembly, which the country successfully co-hosted with Zambia late last year.
FIFA will look at a country’s previous record with major sporting events. Our record, sadly, is not that stunning.
Yes, we successfully hosted the All-Africa Games in 1995 but failed to stage the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations finals due to a variety of reasons.
Zimbabwe will need to bid and host events like the FIFA Under 20 and Under 17 World Cups and AFCON before thinking of the big one.
Being ambitious is good. So is being realistic.
