Opinion by Nigel Pfunde
I was doing my routine perusing of the internet a prerequisite of my job any any normal being in the digital era.
An image popped on my TL, it was that of US President Donald Trump talking to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and smiling next to him is our own ZIFA prezzo Nqobile Magwizi standing right there with them.
Everything in the picture is gold and shiny. It looks big and important.
It gives a Utopian image tantamount to ‘masturbation’ and make-belief that Zimbabwean football has big connections.
But for people who follow football in the townships and rural areas, the picture must be deemed as an insult.
Of course nowadays, “photo-ops” like this are now more like the morden currency in the age of digital perception..no doubt.
But this particular picture does not deserve the wow attention it is getting on social media .
The picture has scandal ridden Infantino, Trump and our guy Magwizi who heads a perpetually struggling football association,an organisation often associated with administrative chaos,funding crises and a chronic inability to build infrastructure.
There is him doing the temple of capitalist Americana ,smiling with Trump and Infantino under a canopy of US flags!
If one looks at this picture,it holds zero value for a 12-year old in Mzilikazi dreaming to be the next Peter Ndlovu while kicking chikweshe (homemade plastic ball) on a dirt pitch at Rutsvina grounds that every ghetto has.No handshake with Infantino or a shared joke with Trump will build a new youth academy or train a new generation of coaches..its all personal vanity!
This is because football at the grassroots level in Zimbabwe is falling apart and Ngugi Wathi’ono would say that happens when the centre cant hold!
Many young teams do not have balls, jerseys, or even proper fields to play on. Coaches are not being paid. School tournaments have stopped because there is no money for transport. Most community grounds are in a bad state.
So while ZIFA leaders are taking pictures in golden buildings far away, the children who are supposed to be the future of Zimbabwean football continue playing on dusty fields with no support.
What is the point of spreading that photo in the public domain where you are forced to see it even in a church WhatsApp group.
What did Zimbabwe get from that meeting?
Are there new programs for young players and new pitches like Chahwanda Stadia? Right now, there is nothing to show.
In the slightest possibility and in what I would deem a far fetched assertion, one would be at pains to say its ‘sports tourism’ but the reality is its just a guy posing for a photo with a man who perceives himself as the ‘most powerful president’ on earth which is obviously a Utopian mindset.
FIFA gives money every year to help develop football in each country. Fans want to know if that money is being used to help players on the ground, not just to take pictures with big people.
A photo can be nice, but it does not build a football field. It does not buy boots for a 15-year-old. It does not pay a coach.
At a time when people are losing trust in ZIFA, this golden photo feels far away from the real problems of football in Zimbabwe. Fans are not asking for pictures with presidents. They are asking for balls, buses and better chances for young players.
Until that happens, this photo will just be a reminder of how far ZIFA leaders are not loyal and far from the real game.
