News that Zifa are taking Zimbabwe's 2026 World Cup home Qualifier against Benin too far off Durban has provoked a gamut of emotions including anger.
This is surely a slap in the face on the generality of football fans as Zifa have thought only of themselves because their expenses are paid for by the football federation or alternatively that their fat pockets permit them to travel that far.
They have chosen the luxury they can afford forgetting that this Warriors team is for the ordinary Zimbabwean football fan who cannot afford the luxury of travelling to Durban and more importantly sleeping over there
If surely Zifa had the Zimbabwean football public in mind, this game should have been played closer to home in Polokwane or the not all that expensive Johannesburg and not the far off Durban where everything is also expensive.
Polokwane or Johannesburg would have provided an opportunity for the football fans to travel to South Africa to watch their Warriors play in a spirit of camaraderie, friendship, and fun, under the new Zifa leadership.
How Nqobile Magwizi and his team arrived at their decision is a question that begs for an answer, but one thing that is clear is that they are very much detached from the real football world.
Decisions like these always raise questions and this is when we start hearing sentiments like "we told you that these are not football people." (takakuudzai kuti havasi vanhu vebhora)-- And we would all agree.
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It was heartening to hear Zifa vice president Loveness Mukura and Board member Kudzai Kadzombe promising the Mighty Warriors that they would do their best to see to it that the women's team was accorded equal financial rewards and equal treatment to that of the Warriors.
It was a good encouragement to a team that over the years has been badly treated by successive Zifa leaderships at a time the football world is evolving and is offering equal opportunities for women.
Remember the Mighty Warriors story of being served with sadza, matemba, and pumpkin leaves, - twice a day - which made headlines all over the world when the team was in camp preparing for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Not forgetting the $5 reward that each team member received upon returning from the Games in Rio de Janeiro, an insulting figure that was not even to take some of them back to their homes.
Even right now, the Mighty Warriors are still to receive the residential stands that the then minister of sport Makhosini Hlongwane promised them on the day they qualified for the Olympics.
On that day, the Mighty Warriors became the first Zimbabwean team ever to qualify for the Olympic Games, and up now, they remain the only Zimbabwean sports team ever to achieve that feat.
Those not in the know-how, should be told that the Zimbabwean women's hockey team that won a gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games went to Moscow via an invitation and not through the qualifying process.
On that premise, the Mighty Warriors remain the only team since 1980 who have managed to negotiate their way through the demanding Olympics qualifying route but have not been accorded the sort of respect they deserve.
Zifa too are still to pay the same team the Olympic Games qualification bonus they promised and with the Cuthbert Dube leadership now out of the way, there is little chance the players will get their 2012 Olympics reward.
While promises to the Mighty Warriors remain unfulfilled, the Warriors - on the other hand - have had theirs honoured and already have funds set aside for their appearance at Afcon 2025.
Surely, Mukura and Kadzombe have made a promise and that pledge should be honoured in order to get the best performance from what is looking like a youthful and promising Mighty Warriors.
Although it does not necessarily mean that the Mighty Warriors should get - for example - $2 000 when the Warriors get $2 000 - what we would love to see is the women players getting something worth talking about and worth their value.
After all, the Mighty Warriors - just like the Warriors themselves - survive on football and also have families to take care of and cannot play for charity nor for peanuts.
Happily, though, signs of improved treatment have been evident in the Mighty Warriors preparations for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations Qualifier against Angola and that should be the starting point for more and better things to come.
The Mighty Warriors - on their part - should also be reminded that heathy financial rewards are earned and they can only do that through their performance on the field of play and the Angola match should also be their starting point to earn Zifa's confidence.
A good show in both legs would be enough to convince Mukura and Kadzombe that surely the Mighty Warriors deserve all the support from the national football federation.
- For your comments, views, and suggestions, mkariati@gmail.com or WhatsApp on 071 0774 596.
