The Sunday News
WHEN asked who will emerge as the new Zifa president at the association’s elections next month, he responds with confidence:
“There is one particular guy that definitely stands out. He has the track record and the capability. He is a football man, no question about it. He is David Carelse Juul.’’
Juul will battle it out for the country’s top football post against Harare businessman Philip Chiyangwa, James Takavada, the former Soccer Star of the Year and former Dynamos and PSL secretary-general Leslie Gwindi.
Juul was in his hometown of Bulawayo last weekend. He also watched the Highlanders-Tsholotsho PSL match at Barbourfields Stadium, before meeting a number of councillors, who will vote in next month’s polls.
The businessman, who has made his fortune in architecture and property development, is hoping to meet the rest of the councillors before the elections set for 5 December to sell them his 10-point plan for Zifa’s revival.
An architect by profession, Juul says his success in undertaking and completing 350 projects in 15 African countries and the United Kingdom is testimony of his ability to revive local football and extricate it from its $6 million debt.
Sports Editor Phineas Mukwazo (PM) had a chat with the former Dynamos, Mashonaland United and Bulawayo Wanderers player last Sunday where he reiterated his wish to complete unfinished business from his time as Zifa chairman during the famed Dream Team era of the 1990s.
PM: What have you been doing? And apart from basking in the glory of the Dream Team era what do you have to offer?
Juul: We want to have great success like we had previously through creating stability, having a very clear plan, a deliberate process, coaches being coached, giving opportunities for former football players to continue working in the game, that’s all what I was doing. If you read my Facebook Page today (Sunday) Bruce Grobelaar sent a message saying he is supporting us 100 percent, we have unfinished business.
“We have to put Trevor Juul back where he can finish the business, we did not finish.” If I was allowed to finish I could imagine where our football could be today. So it is all those things, I did right then. We are the ones who came up with the Dream Team. There wasn’t any Dream Team until we created it (Dream Team). We harnessed players from both the North Zone and the South Zone; we put in structures that could ensure the delivery of a successful team. And it happened then we went to the Germans and negotiated with them to bring us a coach and the coach who was available was Fabisch (Reinhard).
He was a great motivator, but quite honestly the team was already in place. All the work having been done by me and Ben Koufie five years earlier.
PM: Your Vision?
Juul: I am looking at the first 100 days which are critical. We are building a business plan for football, we need to do the numbers game, analyse and restructure the debt on an agreed valuation and payoff period, so as not to burden the development of football. We should come with a very clear structure, you see it’s all about giving; my leadership is about giving, what I can give back to the nation, what can I give to the people? I believe God certainly called me to come and fulfill this role and bring God back into football and to the success of football, for this nation I am actually certain about that and when it never happened almost two years and people said don’t worry within two years you are going to see a complete change which you would have never imagined. The prophecy is that Zimbabwe will be back on its feet, football will be back.
PM: You just narrowly lost to Cuthbert Dube through a run-off in 2014, is that the reason why you are so confident, and not vigorously campaigning?
Juul: We have been strategic, we were analysing, we started a long time ago and when the call was made and people kept on pushing me to take up this position and come back. I went into prayer about it and I meditated over it. I became so engrossed in what I am being called to do. (Behind the scenes) we’ve been working, interacting with the public through the social media.
We’ve had thousands of hits on our site, thousands if you like. These are things that we have been working on and certainly I have been there. I don’t have to run around chasing people, flashing money all over the place. I am flashing strategy, flashing very clear systems, systematic and my approach is a collective, collectivism. What does that mean? It means collective participation of everybody in a team driven effort to succeed. It has to be a team effort, we can’t do it alone. Messi might be the best player in the world, but he can’t go and beat Real Madrid by himself, but with his team. The team includes the back office and everyone else.
PM: What makes you so confident of victory?
Juul: I believe the Holy Spirit has shown me this will be an overwhelming victory because this time people are going to feel it in their hearts and spirit, and hear God speak to them and they know they cannot go out there and make the same mistake.
We can’t afford that. We cannot afford to allow money today which will put food in our mouths tonight and leave us hungry tomorrow, to result in us going down yet again as we did over that period that has resulted in this election taking place. What we need is a sustainable plan that will generate sustainable revenue streams that will ensure we taught our people how to fish, so that they can eat for the rest of their lives. Not a once off meal.
PM: Did you feel nostalgic when you came to BF?
Juul: Absolutely. I once scored in that goal where Highlanders scored their first goal (against Tsholotsho). I still cherish that goal and I will remember it for the rest of my life because it was scored before a 20 000 capacity crowd. Bulawayo is my home, Zimbabwe is my country. The Dream Team touched everyone, we galvanised national support, we unified people, and let’s unify the nation once again behind success.
If we get in we will make sure that in six months we will transform the Mighty Warriors into a competitive side the same way we did with the Dream Team. We want to get these girls not only to go to the Olympics but to grab a medal there.
PM: Government assistance in football is crucial. Do you have contacts in Government?
Juul: Certainly I have quite been involved with the Government from the 80s. I have been working very closely with the late Joshua Nkomo, Joseph Msika, John Nkomo, I have worked with them all. And I have continued to work within Government and I have been interfacing with people in Government during this period. And we are preparing a plan I will be presenting to them before the election in how we can structure the funding for football. But football is not about politics and Government, at least it shouldn’t be.
It should be about the game. And I think they will support us once they know that there is a very clear plan, a business plan, structure, that there is a programme and an implementation plan that is based on a study. I am a planner and am an architect, the first thing I do is to look at the site, analyse it, then I conceptualise, then I start to build. I can see it finished before it is actually finished. That’s the gift and it’s a prophetic gift.
PM: When are you going to launch your campaign?
Juul: It was launched a long time ago, we don’t have to go and pay all the big party for a launch. We speak to the public and let the public know us. We sit one on one with the councillors, letting them know they have a (big) responsibility.
And the reason I have engaged with the public is that the councillors can see they (public) are overwhelmingly behind us.
I have no doubt they will come behind us 100 percent not only do you know that, not only does the public know that, so that every candidate standing against me knows that. We are here to give to Zimbabwe, but in order to give, Zimbabwe has got to give as well.
They have to give themselves and commit to achieving these objectives of success. We must do that with the councillors knowing their responsibilities. And we can do it together.
