SPORTS
Philip Chiyangwa, Omega Sibanda sensationally booted out as ZIFA bosses
Published
5 years agoon

Felton Kamambo is the new ZIFA president after he sensationally beat incumbent Philip Chiyangwa in the national football mother body’s elections held in Harare yesterday.
Constitutionally, the winner was supposed to garner at least two-thirds of the vote but after amassing 35 to Chiyangwa’s 24, the latter withdrew his candidature just before a re-run was about to be conducted.
Just like Philip Chiyangwa, incumbent vice-president Omega Sibanda also fell by the wayside as he lost to Gift Banda by 22-37.
The only survivor from the three men who were running the country’s soccer mother body’s affairs was Philemon Machana, who was elected into the board together with Manica Diamonds secretary-general Sugar Chagonda, Rodrick Chamu Chiwanza and Brighton Malandule.
“The board is made from heaven. I have no doubt the board will deliver. We have to make our mark, work hard for the development of football in the country. What we can promise the country is that we have not forgotten what we promised in the run-up to the elections.
“Just check our manifesto, we are going to deliver exactly what we said.”
Yet before the elections, Kamambo along with Banda had been disqualified from taking part in the polls by the ZIFA electoral college who cited some “flimsy” reasons.
But the pair took the case to FIFA which led to their re-admission into the race for the highest football office on the land.
In fact, the world’s soccer governing body FIFA yesterday sent three observers to see to it that the whole process was conducted in a transparent manner.
Kamambo and his newly-elected board know they are inheriting an association ridden with a heavy debt. He, however, maintained that through good governance, ZIFA will make big strides in offsetting that.
Of course, we will be focusing more on developing the game but at the same time, we know the fruits which corporate governance can bring. We will engage stakeholders and map the way forward. What we want at the end of the day is to see a vibrant system which brings success on and off the field.”
Football stakeholders immediately started congratulating Kamambo after delivering the mighty blow.
Harare City chairman Alois Masepe, an astute administrator himself, said Kamambo was a good leader who was capable of taking soccer in the country to the next level.
“Kamambo is a leader of repute. We have always called for development starting from the grassroots level. It is a welcome development that Kamambo, who has development at heart, has been elected the ZIFA president. He needs everyone’s support and as Harare City, we will back him as much as possible,” said Masepe.
Former Dynamos chairman Simon Makaza echoed Masepe’s sentiments and said the new board consists of people who see the value of football. “God is great, the ZIFA councillors now see the value of football and expectations of the owners of the game who are the fans.
“The new board must now get down to business and take our football to a certain stage of development . . . We can now start going back to watch football,” Makaza said.
Kamambo and his new board will also have to deliberate on the mooted August to May Premiership calendar which stakeholders rejected yesterday.
The stakeholders held their annual meeting before the elections.
The Premier Soccer League had written to ZIFA proposing for the alteration as they wanted the local season to be in line with professional leagues.
Already the Confederation of African Football has shifted the season for the CAF Champions League as well as the CAF Confederations Cup.
The change in the CAF calendar mid this year meant the PSL had to handpick representatives for the two competitions which started early this month.
While FC Platinum, who were the reigning league champions, took the offer to participate in the Champions League, the then Chibuku Super Cup holders Harare City rejected the offer, citing inadequate preparation time.
But the move by CAF to align their schedule with other international bodies prompted the PSL to consider changing the local season.
Modalities were already on the ground to ensure a smooth transition from the March to November to the August to May period, including a stop-gap tournament to keep the teams active between January and May.
But it was always going to be a tough task coming up with a unanimous position given a lot of factors needed to be considered before the shift.
And yesterday the gathering was a discordant lot with stakeholders divided over the matter.
Although the issue was not wholly thrown out of the window, no changes will be effected until at least after this coming season.
It was resolved that the next term as has been always the case begins in March and ends in November whilst deliberations on the way forward are discussed. Improper infrastructure in the country is the major area of concern for the mooted shift in season.
Not even a single stadium in the country has an effective drainage system to withstand the normally unforgiving peak rains, especially between December and March.
Given that the change would be blanket, it meant lower division leagues would have been left with no stadium to play on as most of their games are played on community grounds which are practically unplayable during the rainy season.
The same fate would have befallen the Women Soccer League not to mention spectators.
PLS chairman Farai Jere, who was elected into office in September this year, said the change is on course despite being shelved.
“Some councillors objected the shift in the season citing lack of proper infrastructure and some logistical issues.
“However, the change is still on, deliberations will be made going forward,” said Jere.
The Herald
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SPORTS
Highlanders’ Apology for Fan Misconduct in Abandoned Dynamos Fixture
Published
3 months agoon
11/09/2023
Highlanders Football Club has issued a sincere apology to the Zimbabwean football community following the crowd skirmishes that occurred during the high-profile premiership fixture against their archrivals Dynamos. The incident happened just 33 minutes into the game at Barbourfields Stadium, where the Bulawayo club was trailing by two goals. Fans stormed the pitch, protesting against the referring decisions that were perceived to be unfavourable to their team.
The police were overwhelmed by the advancing football hooligans, forcing them to retreat. Some fans were injured during the skirmishes, and vehicles were damaged as the police fought running battles with fans outside the stadium.
In a statement released on Monday, the Highlanders Football Club condemned the unsporting behaviour of the fans who caused the abandonment of the match. The club executive stated that they would be heavily fined for the mayhem, and the points would be awarded to Dynamos on a 3-0 scoreline as per the norm with abandoned matches.
The statement read, “Highlanders Football Club is deeply saddened by the crowd trouble that led to the abandonment of our league match against Dynamos FC at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday. The club condemns the unsporting behaviour that negatively profiles Zimbabwean football as a brand. It is sad to witness such ugly scenes at a family sports event, especially at a time when the club, together with other stakeholders, is working tirelessly to bring fans back into the stadiums and convincing the corporate world that sport, in general, and football, in particular, is worth their support.”
Highlanders apologised to all its stakeholders, especially sponsors, partners, and innocent football-loving fans who were affected by the acts of a few selfish individuals who care less about the growth of their clubs and football in general. They also prayed for those who were injured and wished them a speedy recovery. The club also urged stakeholders to work together to find a lasting solution to hooliganism in football stadiums.
This is not the first time in two seasons that a match involving the two most followed clubs has been abandoned due to crowd trouble. Another fixture was abandoned in May last year when both sets of fans invaded the pitch. Highlanders celebrated an unorthodox celebration for a 93rd-minute finish by Washington Navaya that broke the deadlock, while Dynamos fans were protesting a referring decision over an incident leading to the goal.
SPORTS
Zimbabwean youngster Jimiel Chikukwa has joined English National League side FC Halifax Town
Published
3 months agoon
01/09/2023
Zimbabwean youngster Jimiel Chikukwa has joined English National League side FC Halifax Town following his release by Championship side Watford.
The 20-year-old forward was unveiled by Halifax Town last week. ”We are pleased to announce that FC Halifax Town has signed Jimiel Chikukwa, who was recently released from Championship team Watford”. Chikukwa started his career in the Leeds United academy when he was only 13 years old. However, he decided to join Watford’s academy in the summer of 2021 when his contract with Leeds expired.
During his time with Watford, Chikukwa was loaned to Maidstone United in the National League South for the second half of the 2021/22 season. Although the Stones won the National League South, Chikukwa only made one league appearance before returning to Watford at the end of the season.
Town boss Chris Millington is optimistic about the future of new signing Jimiel Chikukwa.
Millington expressed, “He is a young and thrilling player who needs to demonstrate his abilities in senior games. However, he has shown tremendous potential, and we believe he will be an exceptional player for our team in the future.” Millington also mentioned that Chikukwa is versatile and can play in various positions, including anywhere in the front three and as an attacking wing-back.
We think he could pose a danger when playing as a number nine, but he could also be a threat when positioned on either wing. In our current formation, he might even excel as an attacking wing-back, similar to Angelo Cappello.
SPORTS
Reims secures first win with Munetsi scoring his first goal
Published
3 months agoon
21/08/2023
Zimbabwe international Marshall Munetsi has expressed his delight after scoring his first goal of the season to inspire Stade de Reims to their first win of the season following a 2-0 victory against Clermont Foot in the second round of the French Ligue 1 on Sunday.
The 27-year-old midfielder was instrumental in ensuring Reims got its first win of the season after breaking the deadlock with a header in the 17th minute.
Denmark international Mohamed Daramy, a new signing from Ajax, added a second goal by converting a low cross from Junya Ito in the 84th.
Munetsi, who is flourishing in a more advanced role at Reims, had several opportunities to double his tally.
Probably his best chance of securing a brace came in the 76th minute when the Clermont goalkeeper Mory Diaw produced a double save to deny the Zimbabwe international what looked like a certain goal.
In the end, it was a successful day for Munetsi as he continued his solid start to the season by scoring a crucial goal to follow up on his contribution on the opening day of the season when he registered an assist during the 2-1 loss against Marseille in the first round of the season.
Afterwards, Munetsi took to social media to praise his teammates for putting on a solid display to register their first win of the campaign in their second match.
Great team performance @StadeDeReims to get our first win of the season at home. We keep going,” Munetsi said.
The former Orlando Pirates player is expected to play an important role for the Zimbabwe Warriors when they return to international football later this year in the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers.

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