Zifa get tough on Club Licensing
ZIFA competitions and communications manager Xolisani Gwesela believes that domestic football could turn on a new leaf if clubs fully embrace FIFA and CAF’s club licencing system as the gateway to professionalism.
Gwesela was recently in Cairo, Egypt in the company of ZIFA board member competitions Piraishe Mabhena for a Professional Football Conference organised by FIFA in collaboration with CAF.
The pair returned home equipped with more information and ideas on how best the local game could turn itself into the professional lane and Gwesela is optimistic Zimbabwe can achieve that.
Gwesela also revealed that ZIFA are keen to play their role as the soccer mother body to ensure Zimbabwe comply with the international best practices on club licensing.
The ZIFA spokesman made his sentiments as the association’s technical director Wilson Mutekede yesterday also hit out on cabal of cowardice coaches who have taken to social media to attack the mother body’s move to implement the Club Licencing requirements.
ZIFA have since the start of 2017 been strict on standardisation and demanded before the season started that only coaches with a CAF A licence could sit on the technical bench of Premiership clubs.
That has however, not gone down well with a few coaches who have hidden behind the guise of social media to claim victimisation and accuse ZIFA of selectively applying the CAF A licencing requirements to favour such coaches like Warriors gaffer Sunday Chidzambwa.
Gwesela, however said ZIFA would not relent in their pursuit of what they learnt at the just ended conference in Cairo.
The ZIFA communications and competitions manager said clubs also needed to understand that the licensing system was not intended to suffocate them or stifle their growth.
“It was our honour together with the First Instance Body Chairman Mr Mabhena to attend such a prestigious and invaluable conference which discussed at length matters to professionalise African football.
“Football has undergone a revolution and professionalism results in prosperity of our clubs and in turn produce strong and resilient national teams.
“We are grateful to CAF and FIFA for organising such a beneficial conference. Without doubt we will take what we learnt in Cairo and implement here at home. Club Licensing is never meant to suffocate the clubs but to help them adhere to professional standards,’’ Gwesela said.
Gwesela also gave an insight on some of the topics they covered during their stay in Egypt.
“The conference dealt with Club Licensing status quo in Africa, identifying areas of improvement, league management, stadium management and competitions format and club management in Africa.
“It also looked at the National Dispute Resolution Chamber and we learnt on how nations in South America have implemented Club Licensing.
“We also learnt about experiences of the South African Premier Soccer League as well as club management issues for Atlanta Club in the United States,’’ Gwesela said.
The ZIFA pair, Gwesela also said, used the conference to “share ideas with other CAF nations on how to professionalise African football.
“In Conmebol, they have come with an online platform to check compliance. CAF is also working on an online platform so clubs need to be conscious that Club Licensing is a beneficial tool to modernise football and never intended to punish or suffocate clubs.
“Once we implement Club Licensing to the fullest, we will produce vibrant clubs and in turn produce formidable national teams. It all starts with professionalism at club level,’’ Gwesela said.
Mutekede weighed in and said ZIFA had already rolled out a programme in which they would have two CAF Licensing courses in 2018 and would not bow down any pressure from rabble rousers who seem not see anything positive in what the association does.
The ZIFA technical director said there was nothing amiss in the honour they had granted Sunday Chidzambwa from a CAF A course arguing that the young coaches seeking to make noise in order to be fast tracked ought to “actually learn from the veteran gaffer’’.
“The Technical Development Committee agreed at its inception on specific achievements that exempts Chidzambwa.
“His vast experience in coaching at club and national team level. Having won more than three league championship with Dynamos, leading Dynamos to the Champions League final and being the first local coach to lead Zimbabwe to their first AFCON finals.
“The challenge is of some young disrespectful coaches who want to fast track into highest platforms of coaching without going through the mill. For one to be a fully-fledged pilot they must complete their hours of practise and it so with coaching.
“The issue of Chidzambwa is being brewed up by those who feel hard done by standardisation. It’s coming from those B-licensed youngsters who are not patient to wait for their time.
“Standardisation was never meant to be an advantage or disadvantage any individual coach but a measure specifically meant to improve the coaching standards of the game of football.
“From a technical development point of view we are not under pressure from such sentiments. We have requested for two CAF A courses for 2018 and those with adequate practising waiting period will be enrolled.
“In fact 2018 will see standardisation being effected in Division One and Division Two and this will be ensured through badging of every coach,’’ Mutekede said.