New hope for sports development
LIFE will never be the same for sportspersons in the country following the commencement of Sports Science Institute Zimbabwe programmes which seek to undertake extensive research in the field of Sports Law.
SSIZ, which aims to promote sport development in Zimbabwe, intends to uphold the profile and credibility of Zimbabwean sport since there is no proper recognition for outstanding sportspersons after competitions due to poor sports facilities, lack of security for the sportsperson and proper skills by the sportspersons and trainers.
A number of local former stars, including those who made a name for themselves plying their trade in the Premier Soccer League and the senior national team, have either struggled to make ends meet or died as paupers after hanging up their boots.
SSIZ is concerned that Sports Law is relatively underdeveloped in Zimbabwe and particular attention is drawn on such issues as the need for Sports Insurance, the public regulation of sport as a comprehensive form of employment.
That these former football stars are now living in abject poverty — and some of them reduced to “beggars” — has also brought into question the role of the so- called football managers who are in the headlines on a daily basis.
In an interview with The Herald in Bindura recently SSIZ’s Senior Projects Director, Nongerai Moses Makurumidze, said while there are positive derivable connotations from the existing legal infrastructure, his organisation encourages a more cautious, clear-cut, consultative, none-abusive and justice-focused approach for sportspersons and their families.
“In the absence of a developed Sports Law it cannot be denied that gross injustices prevail in the sporting industry. This is especially so for sports-related injuries. Existing localised arrangements expose sportspersons to unequal treatment in the event of an injury,” he said.
“The meeting of medical bills by established sports clubs is also not conclusive.
Medical bills have nothing to do with disability damages that may accrue as a result of an injury.
The best solution, therefore, is the creation of a Sports Insurance mechanism that will cover all sportspersons.”
Makurumidze called for an administrative framework that makes it a policy for all sportspersons to be insured before they are engaged in any sporting activity while schoolchildren that are, for instance, usually indemnified be insured at school as well as the formulation of laws that accord all sportspersons with employee rights and benefits at every stage of their performance.
He said in the face of Covid-19, the Government gazetted legal provisions classifying sporting activities by risk of Covid-19 infections and permitted low-risk sport events while disallowing those categorised as high-risk sport events which speaks volumes not only for the coronavirus era but a pointer to legislative consciousness for the imminent need for laws and policies that give concern to the welfare and protection of sportspersons.