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Time to forget the past

Magwizi is preaching unity and has extended his hand to election rivals Philemon Machana, Twine Phiri, Makwinji Soma - Phiri, and Marshall Gore, to join his band in the development of Zimbabwean football.

Election time is over for Zimbabwean football and now is the time to focus on what the future holds for Zimbabwean football under the Nqobile Magwizi leadership.

Magwizi is preaching unity and has extended his hand to election rivals Philemon Machana, Twine Phiri, Makwinji Soma - Phiri, and Marshall Gore, to join his band in the development of Zimbabwean football.

However, he faces challenge after Machana and Phiri appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport contending that the election was stolen from them after controversial businessman Wicknell Chivhayo and minister Tino Machakaire publicly backed his candidature.

In fact, it is the offer from Chivhayo of vehicles to the 78 Councillors if they voted for Magwizi that is at the centre of the contention.

In the meantime, though, Magwizi remains the Zifa president until that contentious matter is settled by the international court for sport.

Magwizi has also made overtures to those who did not make it Farai Jere, Themba Mliswa, Martin Kweza, and Prophet Walter Magaya contending that they too also have a role to play in the future of the Zimbabwean game.

That is what makes the mark of a leader and clearly tells us the direction the Zimbabwean game is heading to and not those who are still mocking and looking down upon those who had the guts to stand up and be counted when election came.

Surely, people like Prophet Walter Magaya have their own faults but we should also not forget the immense contribution they have made to our football and do not deserve the sort of ridicule that is being thrown at them.

For all his faults, we should not forget that this is a man who has kept a club in the Premiership for years - a man who housed the Warriors at his hotel and gave them a training ground and food.

This is also the same man who has built a stadium for Yadah and other clubs and is helping in the construction of another stadium in the Midlands town of KweKwe.

Whatever problems he is facing outside football, we should learn to be tolerant and give him a bit of a rest now that the elections are over and Zimbabwe has a new football leadership.

Surely, it is wrong to waste energy on the wrongs that have already happened but instead we should be looking forward to the future of our football with some form of optimism.

The new Zifa president has shown us the path we should follow because he knows that Zimbabwean football was torn apart by infighting and the lack of appreciation for what is done for it.

As Magwizi pointed out, let us all unite for the sake of our football and hope that the Warriors, the Mighty Warriors, and the Young Warriors, will send us celebrating once again.

Magwizi indicated that his predominant aim is to see that the National Sports Stadium is ready in time to host Zimbabwe's remaining home 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.

Seeing the man talk - and that he is also directly involved with the work at the NSS - we have every reason to believe that South Africa's Bafana Bafana will come and be beaten in our newly refurbished stadium.

Apart from South Africa, the Warriors still have other home World Cup matches against Benin and Rwanda and Zimbabweans would also be happy to watch their Warriors at the NSS in the run up to Afcon 2025.

Michael Nees and his team need as many Afcon warm up matches as they can have to fine tune themselves for the pressure of facing Angola, Egypt, and South Africa.

On the premise, it is important that Zifa sources funds to host those matches and also to ensure that bonuses and allowances are catered for to avoid industrial action as was the case in the past.

The election challenge aside, the Zifa team that was elected looks good enough to overcome the challenges that Zimbabwean football is facing.

* For your comments, views, and suggestions, mkariati@gmail.com or WhatsApp on 071 0774 596.

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