Kamambo living on borrowed time
THE Zifa Assembly’s wish to oust the association’s president Felton Kamambo and his board and bring in fresh inspiration at 53 Livingstone Avenue has been delayed after Fifa advised that the Assembly had no mandate to do so.
What is refreshing to some is that the Zifa Assembly which is being headed by Martin Kweza has agreed to wait for the 90 day period for the EGM to then pursue their agenda of cleaning the Zimbabwean game.
Kweza, who is the Northern Region chairman, contends that they will remain resolute in pursuing their agenda and no amount of waiting will shake their position as it is just Justice delayed but not justice denied.
On that premise, Kamambo is living on borrowed time as under whatever circumstances, the Zifa Assembly will one day still remove him from office in the same way they did to Cuthbert Dube.
What, however, we do not understand is how the Assembly could not in the first place correctly interpret its own statutes which are clear that at this moment only Kamambo and his leadership can call for this EGM.
What they should simply have done was to use diplomacy by asking Kamambo to bring them together at an EGM to resolve issues raised by the Sport and Recreation Commission against Zifa and then table their order on Any Other Business.
Now that their cat is out of the bag, there is no way that Kamambo will agree to this EGM as he has all the time to represent Zimbabwean football on the international front without worrying about none recognition back home.
Fifa still recognizes his leadership and even if he is not directly running Zimbabwean football at the moment, he has nothing to lose as he can attend Caf and Fifa meetings and for that matter representing Zimbabwe.
In fact, the stoppage of the January 29 Zifa Assembly meeting by Fifa has made Kamambo even stronger knowing that he is still indirectly in charge of football in Zimbabwe until after April 3 when the Assembly will be able to convene the EGM.
THERE have been no winners in school sport during these last two years on account of covid as there have been no inter-school fixtures.
This naturally and understandably has been a serious blow to so many youngsters who dreamed, all the way through their earlier school career, of playing for the school team and, probably more importantly, dreamed of winning, of beating their rivals and other all-comers.
How they have longed for that opportunity to come out on top, to be successful, to win! That thrill, that excitement, that wonderful feeling of winning has been absent for many youngsters because they have not been able to play sport or compete in fixtures. That is tough!
Actually, the truth is, we have
That is what Zifa and Fifa rules say and as things stand right now Kamambo cannot be removed from office until after that Zifa Assembly meeting which will be held well after April 3. not denied children the opportunity to win during covid; children have been able to win, win bigtime, and in doing so gain a significant advantage over others.
Children have had ample opportunity to win because they can win without playing. We are not talking here about winning because the other team did not turn up or because other teams in contention lost, as no such fixtures have been possible.
No, our youngsters can win without playing by other means.
Winning effectively, in very broad terms, simply means keeping ahead of opponents; if we are ahead, in front, be it in distance, points or goals, then we win.
The way to be ahead is for us to keep our head which means, for the most part, using the mind.
What, however, the Zifa boss should be reminded of is the fact that there is no prestige or honour in being recognized outside the country when back at home, one is not wanted.
So, the first way that youngsters can win without playing is to use the mind. In a recent article on the BBC sport website, the rising Australian cricketer, Marnus Labuschagne, spoke of his experiences when learning the trade of batting as a young player. He shared how each morning before a match he would sit on a bench and "I'd visualise the batting, the bowlers and different plans”, visualise his innings, ball by ball, that would follow that afternoon, all the way to reaching a century, all in the pursuit of developing as a player and winning matches. And score a century he did! He had scored it before the match had even started; he had won without even playing!
We might go further and say that winning, by using the mind, is achieved not just by dreaming, by visualising, but also by believing. So much of winning comes through confidence (not developing arrogance, which is a deceptive trick of the mind); there can be no room for doubt.
It is said, “Seeing is believing” but that is wrong. However, seeing
Kamambo’s position with Fifa has put Zimbabwean football at a standstill as no binding decision can be made by any other party as long as he is not reinstated from suspension by the Sport and Recreation Commission.
Zimbabwe needs to appoint a national team coach, there are also decisions to be made with regards to the Mighty Warriors, the Young Warriors, and overall sponsorship, but there is no-one to do that as Kamambo still remains FIand believing are both essential for winning.
We do not simply win without playing by visualising or believing. We can also do it significantly by watching. When weather conditions or covid conspire against an intended practice, coaches can easily sit inside with their team and watch matches on screen.
In watching they can ask pupils to identify tactics, skills, patterns; they can analyse what upcoming opponents do (and do not do) or watch how top teams perform and react to adversity. There is so much to be learned (remember, school sport is all about learning, through winning and losing) by watching others.
At festivals, players would do well to watch their opponents, so that they can win even before they have played.
Even those players sitting on the substitutes’ bench can win when not playing by watching what is happening on the field. Youngsters can win without playing by watching, by using their heads.
Another wonderful way that our youngsters can win without playing is by officiating.
Every coach should give every child the opportunity to officiate in practice games as in doing so youngsters learn to see the game from a different angle, as well as
FA’s man in charge.
The question that is being asked over and over again is : Why is Kamambo and Friends refusing to go with all the amount of pressure on them to vacate office ?
Some are suspicious that Kamambo is deliberately delaying his departure so that he fulfills the one thing he still wants in football — that is to attend the 2022 Fifa Congress and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and benefit from it.
Surely, the benefits of being there are enormous. Every football federation is allowed three delegates at the Fifa Congress with all expenses and allowances paid for by Fifa which puts Kamambo, Philemon Machana, and Joseph Mamutse in the picture.
These delegates are also allowed to watch some of the opening matches of the World Cup and it would be unwise to believe Kamambo would allow that oncein-lifetime opportunity to pass through his fingers.
Kamambo surely does not want to be the only one of the modern era Zifa bosses not to have made it to that important Fifa Congress which precedes the start of the World Cup.
Leo Mugabe was at the 1998 World Cup in France, Wellington Nyatanga at the 2006 finals in Germany, Cuthbert Dube at the 2010 tournament in South Africa and the 2014 finals in the USA while Phillip Chiyangwa was at the 2018 Congress in Russia.
This Fifa Congress itself is a gathering of who -is- who in world football leadership and with every past Zifa president having been at this grand stage, it would seem cruel to deny Kamambo this opportunity.
Sadly though, the voices calling for his departure are singing louder than before even louder than the ones that accompanied Cuthbert Dube’s exit to the extent that the Fifa Congress should not matter.
Now with no football power back at home, Kamambo should just do the right thing of pulling out of this football war — before he is pushed out in disgrace have a better understanding of the rules, the difficulties that officials face. The team may be playing but individuals can learn without playing.
The fourth way a youngster may win without playing, even during covid, is simply by going back to practise the basic skills – stopping, passing, catching, tackling, hitting, shooting.
Youngsters are easily bored by doing this but the sad fact is that many youngsters even at firstteam level do not have a mastery of the basics; they want to play games, that is all, but playing games is a wasted effort if they have not mastered the basics.
There have been no fixtures, where they might win, but they could practise on their own even and thereby win, by keeping ahead of those who did not practise.
For many, sport is all about winning; school sport, however, is all about learning. When we learn, we win.
We do not have to compete to win. Those who have done the above have won – we shall see!
Tim Middleton is a former international hockey player and headmaster, currently serving as the Executive Director of the Association of Trust Schools Email: