The Sunday Mail
Online Reporter
A WEEK after becoming the first Zimbabwean female football administrator to attend the World Football Summit, Ngezi Platinum Stars executive member Rumbidzai Muyambuki continues to scale greater heights after she was drafted as a committee member of the newly formed Africa Women in Sport (AWIS).
Muyambuki, who is also a referee and football coach, together with Real Betis Zimbabwe Academy director Gerald Sibanda wined and dined with some of the top football administrators in the world at the first-ever World Football Summit Africa, which was held in Durban, South Africa.
“The summit was an eye-opening experience for me, especially in the direction football is taking.
“I learnt a lot about how football has now become a big industry and not a pastime,” said Muyambuki.
She hopes to use the knowledge gained from the two-day conference to help transform Zimbabwe football into a serious business.
“Coming from Ngezi Platinum Stars, a club that seeks to attain international standards in football matters, I feel that the knowledge I got will both be useful to the club and Zimbabwe at large,” she said.
Over 1200 people were in attendance, with 80 speakers from different sporting administration backgrounds.
The continent’s women in sport were led by Mariam Mpaata of Afrika Sports Foundation Centre.
“The group (AWIS) came about after a conversation during the recent World Football Summit in Durban, South Africa, between Beverley of OAL (Sports Lawyer, Nigeria), Anna Nyan (Football for Life, South Africa), Hlengiwe Ntanzi (SAFA, South Africa), Mapulane (Motesso FC, Lesotho), Rumbidzai Muyambuki (Ngezi Platinum Stars, Zimbabwe), and Mariam Mpaata (Afrika Sports Foundation Center, Kenya/Uganda),” wrote Mpaata in a statement confirming the formation of the organisation.
“Our first agenda is to bring to the group as many women as possible, but, most importantly, women involved in all types of sports regardless of their status.”
