Football in Zimbabwe: Hopes, fears – and in need of direction (part two)

Welcome back! The second and concluding part of my look at football in Zimbabwe begins with me talking to Justin Walley, former coach of CONIFA representatives Matabeleland. Justin is also a president for the African section of CONIFA aswell as co-founding Riga FC in the Latvian leagues.

Justin’s experiences and inside knowledge made for great reading as he answered the questions I put to him. See below:

How did your move to Matabeleland come about?

That’s a long story. The short version is that I set myself the seemingly impossible goal of coaching international football. After a few months, it looked like I was going to the Pacific until the guy setting that up stabbed me in the back at the last moment and it all fell through. I was so upset that I almost decided to quit football. There are a lot of snakes out there in the game. However, thanks to Sascha Düerkop, the General Secretary of CONIFA, and Paul Watson, who organised the CONIFA London World Football Cup, I became aware that Matabeleland were looking for a foreign coach to head up their World Cup campaign. I spoke to their president, Busani Sibindi, and we clicked immediately. As soon as he offered me the chance to go to Zimbabwe, I took it.

In footballing terms, why do Matabeleland represent their region through CONIFA? Do the people there continue to feel separated from the rest of Zimbabwe?

CONIFA gives a voice and football to the marginalised. I suggest anyone interested researches Matabeleland and spends 15 minutes educating themselves about the history of the region and the Ndebele people. CONIFA is the perfect fit for the Matabele people. I think our team created more positive public for the region than almost any other project, person or organisation in the past few decades.

Zimbabwe appears to be in almost terminal decline. There is a drought, inflation is almost 200 percent, there isn’t enough food on the shelves, there’s a cash crisis, political instability etc. I think everyone in Zimbabwe of every colour, Creed and tribe feels a disconnection to the state. Everyone feels separated in a sense. Bulawayo and Matabeleland have had it worse historically. But I think right now, everyone is suffering. I really fear for the country.

How were you received on your arrival in the country? What were the facilities and infrastructure like on the whole?

Everyone treated me like an honoured guest. I was looked after and always treated respectfully. I was almost the only white person living in my suburb and I never once experienced a negative incident. In a football sense, it was also amazing because coaches from some of the bigger clubs came down to watch me train and were interested in what we were doing.

I wrote a book about my experiences. The title is One Football No Nets. That sums up the situation I was faced with when we started. For a period of time, we had to play on a public dirt pitch with no nets and we were down to one or two decent balls to train and play matches with.

*Justin’s book ‘One Football No Nets’ is a captivating read. You can order your copy here

Do you feel the political situation across Zimbabwe as a whole has a big effect on football and it’s development and progression?

When people don’t have enough food to put on the table, football becomes rather secondary. With the right people guiding the country, and the correct individuals running Zimbabwean football, I have no doubt that football would flourish and Zimbabwe would become a real force in international football.

Finally, do you feel African football collectively should get more global recognition?

Absolutely. I was very happy to see the Women’s World Cup get such massive exposure but, at the same time, it infuriated me that there might be ten articles in the broadsheets on a single day about the Women’s World Cup and only one or perhaps none at all about the African cup of Nations taking place at the same time, with many of the world’s most talented players taking part and an entire continent being represented.

This shows me that the mainstream media in places like the UK don’t care about African football. This is just one example of how things are but there again, the same was true for this summer’s Copa America. It is almost as if the minute the likes of Mahrez, Salah, Messi and Cavani get on the plane and fly back to their own continent, they are forgotten. It is rather absurd, to be honest.

But African football as we know it, is European football. Europe’s leagues and national teams are full of young men from the African continent. It is on the pitches of Europe that Africa showcases its players and nationalities. It is Mo Salah who creates interest in Egypt and Egyptian football. Sadio Mane is one of those who has put Senegal on the map.

These young African men are the role models for a whole continent of young kids and adults. They show young Africans that they can dream and maybe one day their dreams can become reality.

 

Finally, after hearing the intriguing and reasoned views of Justin Walley, someone who’s seen and experienced first hand the issues facing Zimbabwe and it’s football, I wanted to get the viewpoint of Zimbabweans who no longer reside in their homeland and can view proceedings from the outside. I contacted Sam Huwa, host and initiator of the Weekend Sports Diaries, a show on Zimbabwean radio station Pamtengo Radio, based in Luton, England.

The station itself has presenters based all across the world including USA, Australia,Kenya, South Africa, Malawi and of course Zimbabwe itself. Though Sam admits the show is not a professional format, it has proved successful and well liked, leading to some Zimbabwean sporting legends appearing on the show recently.

The far reaching audience the show receives and the range of views heard puts Sam in a great place to comment on football, and it’s culture, in Zimbabwe objectively.

I started by asking if the Zimbabwean community based in the UK follow Zimbabwean club teams, English teams or both? “The Zimbabwean community in the UK follow their English team(s) much more than their Zimbabwean team(s)”.

“The older generation have Zimbabwean teams but, being based here (in the UK), there is no way of watching the league anywhere on screen”. Sam concedes that ” the generation that have grown up in the UK only know of their English teams and have no affinity with Zimbabwean (domestic) football”.

The point is also made that with the the gulf in quality between English football and Zimbabwean football getting ever bigger, natives returning to the country are left disappointed by the spectacle on show in their homeland.

While fans grow increasingly frustrated with the standard of the Zimbabwe Premier League, Sam maintains that “football is massively important to the people of Zimbabwe”. Further commenting ” you will go to the remotest part of Zimbabwe and you will find a small community gathered round a TV watching (for example) Manchester United v Arsenal or go into a pub in Luton town centre and you will find a loud, boisterous Zimbabwean crowd watching the same game”.

As previous people I’ve spoke to have told me ” the national team is the one national football treasure that the fans are trying to hold onto” says Sam ” but it’s a shame those in charge seem keen on destroying it. You will always get a full stadium when they are playing. The country comes to a standstill, social media goes ablaze, bars are full; and even though most times it ends in disappointment, they keep coming back to support their team with national and patriotic pride”.

Sam, like many others, has strong views on what continues to hold the sport back in Zimbabwe and is the main reason for the current regression. ” I don’t think it’s the uncertainty in politics affecting the game but politics in itself and more so, corruption and greed. Football is a ‘cash cow’ in Zimbabwe, so it attracts unscrupulous administrators with selfish interests”.

Sam believes the major issues are caused by individuals from various political parties trying to get involved in football to “milk the cash cow” rather than it being any interference from central government and its policies.

” The amount of corruption over the years will shock you. With our sports show, we now have links to footballers, current and former, and the inside stories they tell you about greed within the administration saddens me all the time”

Sam feels that the general political uncertainty throughout the years didn’t affect the game hugely, believing “it’s these other factors that are going to be the downfall of Zimbabwean football”.

“The amount of corruption over the years will shock you. With our sports show, we now have links to footballers, current and former, and the inside stories they tell you about greed within the administration saddens me all of the time”

– Sam Huwa

So how did the listeners to the Weekend Sports Diaries evaluate the national teams performance at the recent AFCON tournament? “I’d say people were hugely disappointed and put most of the blame with the coach”

I hear that many people believe manager Sunday Chidzambwa (who has since resigned) made key tactical errors, along with the opinion that his style of football hasn’t evolved in accordance with the modern game.

“Some blame has also been put with the ZIFA administration for allowing a situation where the players went on strike hours before the first game of the tournament, thereby bringing shame and embarrassment to the nation” Sam tells me that this even led to calls for the arrest of some officials and the intervention of the Zimbabwean Minister for Sport.

The radio show host has an interesting opinion of whether more African football should be available worldwide; “the talent is definitely there but I don’t know why all these African players can shine for their European club sides week in week out, but when they put on their national team colours, their performance levels drop markedly.”

While unsure personally, Sam does state that some have the opinion that corruption is holding back the exposure of African football, and while it’s certainly not the only reason, I feel it is something that will have to be rectified for outside interest to develop.

Lastly, I asked what Sam personally believes needs to be done to push football forward across Zimbabwe. The answer I received was very clear. Firstly there needs to be accountability, ” how nobody has been charged with a crime after all the fraud that has gone on is beyond me”.

Continuing a clear theme, Sam states that the key issue to be addressed is investment in grassroots and youth football. “Most of the big clubs no longer have academies and all the ex professionals will tell you that without them, there is no bright future for football (in Zimbabwe)”.

Sam concludes with two other points of necessary improvement that have been brought up previously. ” Make professional coaching cheaper and easier to access” and the need for ” more corporate sponsorship, although I understand that only a professional, corruption free administration will attract this.”

So having spoke to four different people from four different perspectives, we can perhaps attain a more rounded, understanding view of football in Zimbabwe and, to a degree, across the African continent.

The necessity for improvements to facilities infrastructures, particularly in grassroots and academy football, is startlingly apparent. This could be achieved by outside, corporate investment, perhaps made available by sponsorship and advertising opportunities provided by media exposure (mainly TV and radio coverage) further afield. Thus providing resources which could, in time, allow the product on the pitch to improve quality wise.

There is certainly a market for this. There are strong, populous African communities across the world. You only have to look at the scenes of celebration across the likes of London, Paris and New York etc. as Algeria clinched the recent AFCON title in Egypt. Likewise the jubilation that follows a Senegalese, Nigerian, Tunisian or Moroccan success for example.

However, the issue regarding constant corruption in the governance and administration of football in Africa will always give a somewhat disinterested European media a cause for concern, and inturn, a way out of taking on the logistical challenges and showcasing the African game.

Football isn’t the most important issue facing Zimbabwe at the moment. Inflation, power and food shortages and improvements to people’s day to day lives are all far higher on the agenda. However, through the course of writing this two part feature, you can sense the joy, hope, disappointment and fears of people who love the game there. It matters to them.

I sincerely hope that the footballing authorities in Zimbabwe can realign themselves with the needs of the game there, put scandals in the past and personal gain to one side and bring a solace to the nation and its people.

I’d like to conclude by thanking Justin Walley and Sam Huwa for their passionate and compelling opinions, along with those of Leslie Chapata and Thulani Javas Sibanda in part one, which has given a full, rounded view of Zimbabwean football as a whole.

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