The Sunday Mail
Felton Kamambo
THE build up to this afternoon’s clash between our Warriors and Congo Brazzaville has been hectic but I am glad that the big day is finally here. As I campaigned for the post of Zifa president I vowed to change the way the football association did business and the signs of change are there to see.
Change is a process that is well and truly underway at Zifa.
Yesterday we held an induction workshop for Zifa councilors, the first in several years, and we had former Fifa development officer Ashford Mamelodi taking charge.
Mamelodi requested to have former Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze as his resource person and we said “fine”.
The days of personal and petty fights are gone, it’s time to move on as one united family and today we expect to see everyone rallying behind the national team. I am aware there are concerns about ticket sales and am privileged to use the valued pages of The Sunday Mail to announce that ticket sales will continue today but not at the stadium.
There will be tickets available at the outlets we have previously advertised as well as at the Long Cheng Plaza, which is very close to the National Sports Stadium.
So there is no reason for people to stay away from the game on the pretext that they have failed to access the tickets, the tickets will be available today. But I must repeat that there will be no ticket sales at the stadium where barricades have been put in place to ensure easy access. Only those people in possession of tickets will be allowed access into the turnstiles.
This game comes at a time when Zimbabwe is grappling with the effects of Cyclone Idai and as the Zifa board we have decided to play our part in helping those affected by this national disaster. We will donate every dollar from each ticket sold to the Cyclone Idai charity fund because football is for the people and must be seen to be with the people during such tough times.
It is everyone’s hope that the Warriors will bring the nation some cheer today by qualifying for Afcon.
As a board we have made sure that the boys are ready for this battle, there are no bonus wrangles, there is total focus.
We have been visiting the camp regularly and the mood in that camp is very encouraging, everyone is pumped up for battle.
Regrettably we had that incident when the team was barred from accessing the NSS but the silver lining from that sad episode is that it made the boys more focused.
When I spoke to the team I reminded them that each time one is about to achieve something big they are faced with some hurdles along the way.
The NSS incident was a hurdle which was in the Warriors’ path to Afcon but we negotiated it and I remain confident that we will also negotiate our way past Congo Brazzaville.
Our country has to be among the big boys at Egypt 2019 and that Afcon dance should be the start of the football revival.
Zimbabwe should be a force to reckon with starting from the age group teams and effort is being channelled towards revamping our development structures. We have to make sure that work on producing the next Knowledge Musona, the next Khama Billiat, the next George Chigova is being done consistently and properly.
To Mhofu and team I say go out there and make us proud, this is the day we will celebrate our qualification for Afcon.
Go Warriors Go, Score Warriors Score.
God Bless Zimbabwe!
Felton Kamambo is the Zifa president and wrote this article exclusively for The Sunday Mail.
