DEMBARE PLAYER AWARDS MOVED TO NEXT YEAR
ICC
THE year that began with a loud hype for giants Dynamos is set to end quietly with revelations the club will this year not be holding the end of season awards that were billed to cap the club’s 60th anniversary.
The awards ceremony is now likely to be held in February next year.
But there are fears that some of the players that were part of the story this year, when they won the Chibuku Super Cup to end a nine-year drought for major silverware, may not be around by then. Club chairman Moses Maunganidze yesterday said the awards were still on the agenda.
“The awards are going to be held. I can’t give the dates and time-lines, it’s something that we are going to confirm after a scheduled meeting of the club’s management,” he said.
The Glamour Boys are still putting together the logistics, including the preparation of a documentary and a book chronicling the club’s success and the journey travelled since its formation in January 1963.
Dynamos had wanted to win the title this year to put the icing on the cake, but they missed the target after finishing third behind eventual winners Ngezi Platinum Stars and silver medallists Manica Diamonds.
But they managed to land the Chibuku Super Cup for the first time, in the process ending a nine-year drought for major silverware and also earning their way back to the Africa safari next season.
“Obviously we are on cloud nine as a team after winning the Chibuku Super Cup this year. It’s one title that had eluded us for nine years and ending that jinx was some sort of achievement for the club because it also became a stepping-stone back to the Africa safari.
“Coming third in the league marathon isn’t what we expected considering the calibre of the team that we had assembled. We had quite a competitive side, but one or two things went wrong during the course of the season.
“So, we are not entirely worried because the team showed great potential, despite it being a new outfit assembled at the beginning of the season. “We have to maintain the stability that we saw this year and with a little bit more preparation and focus this team has the potential to achieve more next season,” said Maunganidze.
Among the success stories that they could also have celebrated at the awards banquet was the fact the Glamour Boys had two of their players Donald Mudadi and Tanaka Shandirwa making the Soccer Star of the Year finalists.
Mudadi was the Soccer Star first runner up in a tight contest that was won by Ngezi Platinum Stars’ Qadr Amini by the slimmest of margins as only three points separated the two players.
Teenage forward Elton Chikona was voted the league’s Most Promising Player, with another DeMbare boy Junior Makunike in second place.
“It was their first time playing for Dynamos, coming from smaller teams and everyone generally agrees they deserved to be among the Soccer Stars. And looking at the way this team fared, I feel we should have contributed more players on the Soccer Stars calendar.
“So these guys should continue working hard and they will definitely go far. Dynamos provides a fertile ground to cultivate football careers. If they can be level-headed, the sky can only be the limit.”
Dynamos have since announced interim coach Genesis Mangombe will be engaged next season but they will also face a battle in convincing players that have expiring contracts to stay. Maunganidze, however, said everything was under control, as DeMbare are also drawing up a roadmap for the CAF Confederation Cup participation.
“Of course, when a contract expires it is bound to be renewed. So this is one thing that the management has been keeping tabs on for a long time. Work is underway in terms of our year-end review and way forward.
“So we are not worried much. What’s important is for the club to demonstrate the capacity to retain the players whose contracts have expired.
“At Dynamos there are certain things that we look at when it comes to engagements and re-engagements with players. We always strive to create the best environment for players and we also expect value from these players. So, it’s supposed to be a mutually beneficial relationship.
“And like I said we have to demonstrate the willingness to retain the players that the coach wants and at the end of the day Dynamos has to continue. That is why we are also investing in juniors,” said Maunganidze.
The Glamour Boys began their 60th anniversary season with a huge bucket list, which included ending the long-drawn drought for silverware. They kicked off the year by setting up a DeMbare@60 Anniversary Celebrations Organising Committee led by Denford Mutashu, who had promised to make the commemorations a huge spectacle to change the landscape for domestic football forever.
But the 26-member committee was disbanded midway through the season with no activity in place. Dynamos were formed in 1963 and over the years, have won a record 21 league titles, and several other local trophies.
They have also been the country’s flag bearers on the continent reaching the CAF Champions League final in 1998 before losing in controversial circumstances to Cote d’Ivoire side, Asec Mimosas.
Dynamos also produced arguably the greatest ever player to have graced Zimbabwean football stadiums in the form of George Shaya, a five-time Soccer Star of the Year award winner.
VETERAN sports administrator, journalist and Zimbabwe Newspapers chairman, Tommy Sithole has been elected to the Global Esports Federation Board as one of the five vice-presidents to Chris Chan on a four-year term.
Sithole will also chair the Governance, Ethics and Membership commission while Ramil Aliyev will be the co-chair on membership.
The new GEF board was constituted on Tuesday and Sithole, who first made it to the GEF leadership in December 2019, is joined by four other vice-presidents, Steven Ma from China, Adrian Lismore from Ireland, Chester King from the UK and Melita N. Moore of the United States.
The 73-year-old Chan of Singapore, who first assumed the role in 2019, was elected unanimously for a second term at the 4th GEF general assembly ahead of the Global Esports Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Chan’s board provides supervision and guidance to the strategies of the GEF and its executive leadership team and draws experience from experts and global leaders in the realms of esports, sport, technology, and business. The GEF Board acts as guardians of the GEF values and global ambassadors of the GEF’s vision and mission.
In 2020, Sithole was appointed chairperson of the Global Esports Federation’s Governance and Ethics Commission while fellow Zimbabwean Tyrone Seward came in as the vice-chairperson in the Education, Culture and Wellness Commission.
The GEF has established expert Commissions and Councils as key components of its governance structure with the overarching ambition to inform, guide, drive, and support the development of tangible initiatives and programs that serve the world’s esports community.
Reporting to the GEF Board, the GEF Commissions and Councils are led by the GEF Board Members and relevant industry leaders supporting the GEF Executive in shaping the strategy for the organization.
With over 160 global leaders and renowned experts from the realms of esports, sport, academia, healthcare, technology, safeguarding, governance, administration, strategy, and business, the Commission and Council members act as the guardians of the GEF values and ambassadors of the GEF’s vision and mission.
The board members include Ramil Aliyev (Azerbaijan), Stefy Bau (Italy), Samy Bessi (Belgium), Hala Ghandour (Lebanon), Lorenzo Giorgetti (Italy), Hideki Hayakawa (Japan), Jerry Ling (Singapore), Chong Geng Ng (Singapore), Yaqui Núñez del Risco Mejía (Dominican Republic), Chris Overholt (Canada), Alper Afsin Özdemir (Turkiye), Dana Reizniece-Ozola (Latvia), Aurelia Ruetsch (France), Koen Schobbers (Netherlands) and Peter Zeytoonjian (United States).
Australian Paul Foster is the chief executive officer while Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud of Saudi Arabia is an honorary board member.
To complete the leadership are senior advisors, who include Poland’s Andrzej Krasnicki, Japanese Hideki Okamura, New Zealand’s Rebecca (Bex) Smith and Chinese Luzeng Song together with advisor Nicholas Aaron Khoo from Singapore.
Meanwhile, speaking after his re-election, Chan said:
“The support and endorsement of our plans and strategies reflect our shared commitment to advancing esports globally . . . In the new term, we aim to focus on innovation across the ecosystem, building sustainable projects, led by our chief executive and his team.”
During his first term, over 100 athletes competed across 10 virtual sports – including sailing, baseball and tennis — at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre in the inaugural Olympic Esports Week, which attracted 20,000 attendees over four days in the Republic.
GEF is not the only international e-sports body and has co-existed with the likes of the International E-sports Federation, which started in 2008 and is based in South Korea. Both are working towards having electronic sports recognised as a legitimate sport and admitted into the Olympics programme. Chan added:
“While the journey to Olympic affiliation is a decision for the International Olympic Committee, our partnerships, including with United Nations partners such as Unesco, demonstrate shared visions and values toward inspiring youth engagement and global development opportunities for all.”
The third edition of the Global Esports Games kicked off on Tuesday at the SEF Arena and runs until tomorrow.
The GEF flagship esports event, hosted by the Saudi Esports Federation, features over 950 athletes from over 100 nations and territories for the qualifiers, and 240 athletes from 56 nations and territories for the World Finals this week.
They will compete in Dota 2, eFootball 2024, Pubg Mobile and Street Fighter 6 — Sports Reporter/TheStraitsTimes.