After quitting the Dynamos hot seat a fortnight ago, football administrator Keni Mubaiwa is not ruling out the possibility of running for the Zifa presidency when the election comes in December.
BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
Mubaiwa announced his resignation from Dynamos after seven years at the helm of the Harare giants, who are currently in the midst of their worst crisis in recent years.
Apparently hurt by his departure from Dynamos, Mubaiwa revealed his desire to take a short rest before considering the option of gunning for the country’s top football job.
“At the moment I want to take a break from football before I can consider coming back. I feel I still have the pain of leaving Dynamos, but I know the Zifa elections are in December so I will think about running for the presidency in due course,” he told Standardsport in a wide-ranging interview last week.
In his seven years as Dynamos president, Mubaiwa added colour to the local league as one of the most controversial football administrators.
He also goes down as one of the most successful leaders in history for the Glamour Boys since 1963.
Four consecutive Premiership titles between 2011 and 2014 can only be matched by the 1980-83 epoch when the team last achieved the feat.
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Two runner-up slots as well as other knockout trophies makes Mubaiwa’s résumé look even more impressive.
Mubaiwa, who said he was now focusing on his business interests while at the same time spending more time with his family, also opened up on his tenure as Dynamos boss.
“I think I left Dynamos in a better place than where I found it as president. I won four league titles, I managed to bring in and keep sponsors as well as to unite a divided club into one unit,” Mubaiwa boasted
While declaring that he leaves Dynamos a happy man, Mubaiwa also highlighted his regrets.
“I believe Dynamos belong to the elite of African football and I would have hoped for the club to do better on the African safari than we did during my time. It happens in football to crash out of tournaments at the early stages, but the intention was to do better or even win the Caf champions league,” he said.
The Harare businessman seemed reluctant to respond to questions about the reason he decided to quit the club having resisted calls for his head in the past. Despite leaving unceremoniously, he insists he remains Dynamos at heart.
“Dynamos is like a political party and you start off as a supporter and climb up the ranks. That’s how I got to be at the top. So now that I am no longer the president I revert back to being a supporter.
“Once you are in football it will always be difficult to leave, so I will always be there for Dynamos. I may even be president again in future, but for now I have decided to let other people bring in new ideas for the good of the club,” he elucidated.
Mubaiwa was also the premier soccer league acting boss and his resignation from Dynamos means he relinquishes that post.
Reports went around that his relationships with Zifa president Phillip Chiyangwa got frosty after he refused to be co-opted into the Zifa board by the businessman.
“My relationship with the Zifa president is great. People do not understand that it was not my decision not to be coopted, but that of the PSL clubs. I wrote to Chiyangwa and he understood, but if it was my decision I would have agreed,” he said.
A lot of times Mubaiwa has been criticised over his love of casual dressing, with chains around his neck even in high-profile meetings and formal gathering.
“People are different. I do what I love and it’s very difficult to change. You should also consider that I am an auctioneer and in that line of business it does not matter how you dress. So, it goes with my job.
“And those chains I wear are gold in value, so it’s a symbol of wealth and status,” Mubaiwa chuckled.
