FC Platinum in cholera fight

FC PLATINUM have taken a bold initiative to use their position and influence as champions of domestic football to play a leading role in the fight against cholera.

The Zvishavane miners, who are set to represent the country in the CAF Champions League — their second dance in the tournament in six years — believe they should also play a big role in national issues.

And they have taken the initiative to work with the Government, through the Ministry of Health and Child Care, to fight cholera in the country.

The club has in the past conducted clean-up exercises in Zvishavane.

Now, they have embarked on a mission to try and help the Government fight and contain the latest cholera outbreak which was first reported in Chegutu.

The club’s parent company, FC Platinum Holdings, have come up with a jingle raising awareness of this disease.

The jingle features a commentary in which FC Platinum eventually defeat their opponents, who in this case are cholera, through an approach that can also help the communities around the country deal with the outbreak.

The washing of hands, preparation of hot meals and clean toilets are emphasised as weapons which FC Platinum used to defeat cholera which was trying various ways to try and subdue them.

“We call the campaign ‘Kick Out Cholera’ and we are just trying to use soccer to deal with cholera,” a club official told The Herald yesterday.

“As the league champions we believe that we should play a big role in terms of dealing with issues affecting our communities.

“It’s our small way of playing our part and we are doing it in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

“As a football team, the health of our players, our officials, our supporters and our opponents is something that we place a lot of value on and that is why we got involved in this and hopefully the message will be heard.”

The Zimbabwean champions are under one of the most dynamic leaderships in domestic football, led by club president George Mawere and they finally reaped their dividends, after years of investment, when they made history as the first club from outside Harare and Bulawayo to be crowned champions in more than half a century.

They had finished second in the previous campaign.