Clayton Shereni
With
pressure mounting for football action to resume, questions still remain as to
whether or not a wholesome reopening of the game will not renew coronavirus
infections at a time the country has recorded significant decline of active
cases.
It is a
public secret that the Zimbabwean economy has been on a life support system for
many years with investment in football suffering considerably as a result.
Now
with the pandemic seemingly far from over, many careers in the football
industry have suffered immense damage.
Sport
heals souls and keeps people occupied and their thoughts away from the
political and economic crisis engulfing the whole country, but of what good
will be sport when the players and fans are exposed to the lethal virus?
Football
leaders in the country have failed to raise the standards of the game even in
more conducive environments of the past. Rather, they have chosen to fatten
their pockets and play politics with the game.
Government
has also largely ignored calls for improve financial support for Zifa which has
struggled for many years but that is a topic for another day.
The country’s
stadia are below standard even for a Division One matches, and that is
according to Fifa standards.
The
ceremonial home of football, Rufaro Stadium is bad while the National Sports
and Barbourfields stadiums were condemned and deemed unfit to host
international matches.
Other
football arenas in the country are just standard grounds which need major
renovations for them to be used for official matches.
Our
stadia do not have good drainage systems and we might see the funniest games of
our lifetime with waterlogged and muddy pitches if full-fledged football is to
resume.
Not
only that, the pitches themselves will pose a very hazardous threat to players
due to the lack of drainage, meaning players will find it hard to adjust to a
slippery pitch.
For
example, one can imagine a D1 match in Mucheke Stadium which is infamously
known for waterlogging during the peak days of Una Una.
In that
stadium, grounds men would connive with Masvingo United to water the pitch and
the trick usually worked in their favour.
With
regards to player testing and keeping them away from the dangers of the
pandemic, it is like trying to climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in 30
minutes.
One PCR
test kit costs nothing less than US$60 and with a team of 18 players and at
least five members of the technical department, one could easily imagine how
many teams will struggle to regularly test their players on a weekly basis.
One of
the key questions to this issue is, how will PSL and Zifa enforce continuous
testing when they themselves are bankrupt? This is not to mention clubs which
survive on gate takings and for them to play in an empty stadium will be a
major blow which would lead to mayhem between players and management over
allowance and salaries.
Although
authorities are mulling a bio bubble, the pertinent question is, will it be
affordable and sustainable?
According
to terms of the proposal, teams will have to camp at an isolated area but this remains
a dream which might be difficult to wake up from.
Who
will cater for the food, allowances and accommodation costs incurred during the
camping since other PSL clubs don’t have the capacity to camp?
Transport
issues will also affect the resumption efforts since most of players in the PSL
and D1 league use public transport which further risks them and their families
and only a few players have personal cars.
Assuming
action has been resumed and tragedy strikes, who will be held accountable since
both the government, PSL and Zifa are known for pointing fingers at each other?
Zifa has
sent a proposal for activities to resume but the government also wrote back a
proposal and this clearly shows that there are some anomalies which need to be
addressed first before the high contact sport begins.
Since
all leagues had not commenced, it will be for the good to declare the 2020
season null and void, to allow team’s coffers to gain and also to give amble
time for them to source and secure funding and avoid chaos and confrontations
with players like the Nhamo Tutisani and Caps United players saga.
Rather,
the authorities should consider with caution pleas from teams like FC Platinum
who are supposed to compete in the Caf Champions League in November.
The
government has been relaxing lockdown restrictions due to the increased number
of recoveries from the disease which is a great positive move but for the
recommencement of football it might be quite a rushed decision.
Other
countries like South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania have continued with their
leagues after a careful approach was made with great cooperation from their
governments, football associations, league authorities and the clubs
themselves.
