The Sunday News
Rutendo Nyeve, Sports Correspondent
BUSINESSMAN and former Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) acting chairman who is the current chairperson of the Zimbabwe Saints board of trustees, Vincent Pamire has bemoaned failure by councils to maintain sport development infrastructure while charging exorbitant fees to private and community sporting teams.
Pamire said this while addressing mourners during the funeral service of Highlanders president, Ndumiso Gumede at Amphitheatre yesterday (Monday).
The City of Bulawayo’s high-density suburbs were in the past blessed with vibrant sporting facilities in the form youth centres which have, however, turned into white elephants.
On the other hand, community teams and private players established sporting development structures and facilities which council has heavily depended on for rates and other fees.
Some of these include Highlanders, Zimbabwe Saints, to mention but a few.
“We used to go and scout for talent in the locations. Mayor! There were youth clubs that nurtured a lot of players. I at times wonder, you would hear that Highlanders owes the city council large sums of money but they forget that we are doing their own work that they are supposed to do because back in the day that’s what would happen. Maybe they no longer have money but these sports clubs we develop for them and the Bulawayo family so that Bulawayo becomes the Bulawayo we wish to be. So, if they go after us asking for our money we wonder because they are the ones who should be giving us money because we are developing Bulawayo,” said Pamire.
He took a swipe over politics in sport saying it was one of the catalysts that has destroyed the sector.
“People who spoiled our football are politicians and some of them worked with Gumede at Highfields Secondary. We were shocked because we had achieved major milestones like the Cosafa and qualified for the Afcon which was a first qualification. Then politics killed us. This is a true story, don’t trust politicians in sports, they started using us as a scapegoat for their failures,” said Pamire.
However, some are of the notion that sport development needs a robust evolution from youth centres to modern day technologically advanced facilities that will help produce world class athletes
