Ridding football of ‘isms’

19 Dec, 2021 - 00:12 0 Views
Ridding football of ‘isms’ Highlanders officials follow proceedings at a joint strategic conference with Dynamos officials in Victoria Falls last week. The conference was organised by Sakunda Holdings

The Sunday News

Simba Jemwa, Sports Correspondent
WHEN it was announced that Sakunda Holdings had entered into a sponsorship agreement with two of the country’s football giants, it would have been easy for all to just applaud the financial benefits of the marriage.

But as Highlanders and Dynamos Football Clubs travelled to Victoria Falls last week for a strategic conference organised by Sakunda, it became apparent that there is so much more than football and money at stake.

For the longest time, Highlanders and Dynamos were at best bitter rivals and at worst represented two of the country’s biggest football strongholds that would often struggle to find common ground. And then along came business mogul Kuda Tagwirei and his Sakunda Holdings to usher in what could arguably be the biggest ever show of national unity between the two clubs and millions of their followers in independent Zimbabwe.

Since independence in 1980, matches between Highlanders and Dynamos have been akin to civil wars, replete with war cries and very rudimentary weapons often produced when violence erupted as it almost always did.

But as Zimbabwe celebrates 34 years since the late Vice-President Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo and the late former President, Robert Gabriel Mugabe signed the Unity Accord ending years of violent post-independence political disturbances, sport, football in particular, has been used to show that Zimbabweans are one and there is more to be achieved if institutions pulled in the same direction and left competition to the field of play.

And just as political leaders sat down and agreed to end hostilities, so too have Highlanders and Dynamos, it seems!

The political disturbances post-independence escalated and began to be played out on many social fronts: football fields, music shows et al. Matches between Highlanders and Dynamos became more than just about football: there were fights off the field, opposing supporters called each other by derogatory names and fixtures becoming an outright war zone!

An away match in Bulawayo for Dynamos for the longest time was dreaded by all until eventually only die-hard fans risked going to the two sides’ matches. In those days wearing Dynamos colours of blue and white in Bulawayo on a Sunday when the big match was due would get someone a major licking, while in Harare black and white would attract disparaging looks and not so nice comments and even beatings.

But last week Sakunda did more than just sponsor football. Tagwirei and his team are encouraging and building a platform for social cohesion among not just football fans but society at large.

In the interests of football and the society at large, both Highlanders and Dynamos have a responsibility and an obligation to bridge the gap between football fans across the divide.

A united Highlanders and Dynamos in the spirit of sport will help rid football of any and all “isms”. If Highlanders and Dynamos embrace and show the rest of the country the camaraderie that generally exists between players, coaches and administrators, surely it can cascade down to the fans.

After all across the Limpopo, supporters of bitters rivals, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs sit side by side during the two teams’ crunch matches.

Just as Matabeleland Highlanders and Mashonaland United (Zimbabwe Saints) did the same in 1975 to stifle settler Rhodesia efforts to divide and rule by creating enmity along tribal lines in order to cripple the liberation struggle, so too can modern day Highlanders and Dynamos.

And just as Joshua Nkomo invited the late Mashonaland United patron, Herbert Ushewokunze, himself a nationalist, and initiated a change in names from Matabeleland Highlanders to just Highlanders and Mashonaland United to Zimbabwe Saints, the Sakunda gesture can and should be used to foster unity first within the micro-society that is football and then pursued at a national level.

If Tagwirei and Sakunda managed to sit both Highlanders and Dynamos at the same table as brothers and talk about their future, surely the two clubs can reciprocate and do the same among their fans and Zimbabwe in general.

Highlanders and Dynamos along with Zimbabwe Saints are the last of the dying breed of community clubs and community football.

These three clubs have not just a sporting development role to play, but also a community development obligation.
Community clubs have become relics all across the world with many going into private ownership to survive, but in Zimbabwe’s narrative that these three have somehow managed to stay relevant is testament to their attachment to the community.

It is therefore important that they leverage this relationship with their community in order to benefit enough to ensure survival.

And the only way to achieve this is if “isms” are cast away. Football tainted with serious societal ills like tribalism is bad for business and will almost always lead to poor ratings among the corporates who should generally want to fund sports development.

The survival of community football clubs hinge on their ability to fulfil their roles as community leaders themselves. And as community leaders, what comes to the fore is a united community. And united communities can only prosper by taking everyone on board.

It is important that by virtue of being community clubs, Highlanders and Dynamos be seized with finding ways to foster unity among themselves and their fans who are the majority.

Highlanders and Dynamos hold the key to socially educate people to honour, respect and love one another in the spirit of unity regardless of colour, creed, religion or the colour of a football club’s playing strip! @RealSimbaJemwa

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