The Sunday News
IT feels good to be back in your favourite column, Talking Sport.
Nature has it that at one time or the other one has to go for sabbatical. One needs to take time off to recharge their batteries.
Don’t they say when the proverbial cat is away the mice come out to play.
However, my deserved break did not mean that I lost touch with what has been happening in sports, especially my beloved game of football.
During that time I attended a local soccer derby match at BF where at one stage with one team virtually eyeing the precious three points at stake, disaster struck in the dying minutes of the game which subsequently ended in a “painful” draw.
At the ire of the fans was a goalkeeper who virtually gifted the other team a vital point when he made an uncharacteristic mistake.
Unrepentant hooligans, as we have become accustomed to, from this notorious stand named after a famous urban area in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, apparently counting their eggs before they were hatched, broke into song which unfortunately had tribal connotations.
But as they say one man for himself and God for us all, divine intervention saw them being punished for their “transgressions” when their team’s shotstopper, who ironically is of the same tribe as the one they were denigrating, made a blunder that cost their team the three points. Whether the mistake was coincidental or not the verdict is all yours.
However, we have said it before and we again reiterate it.
The game of football should be what Pele once said was ‘‘the most beautiful’’ game, which, whose principle should be Fair Play.
The Fifa Fair Play concept does not say matches should be won by hook or by crook, but it means that respect should be part of the game. Without opponents there can be no game and that everyone has the same rights, including the right to be respected.
Fans should give the game atmosphere; conduct themselves fairly by respecting themselves and their opponents.
We have said it before that the game demands genuine fans, people who have respect for property, prioritise safety of others, coaches, and even themselves.
We have also challenged all those who love “the most beautiful game” to stand up to anybody who engages in unacceptable behaviour like the one I saw at BF on that day.
Then there was this overzealous policewoman, who took it upon herself to bar journalists with valid PSL privilege cards from entering the stadium.
The long and short of it is that the people who man the gates at Barbourfields Stadium, including the police and Bulawayo City Council officials, should be schooled on the unparalleled role of the journalists.
When we attend football matches we will not be there on our personal capacities but representing the millions of people who could not be at the match venues.
Our role is to give at least the nearest picture about what could have happened before, during and after a game of football. And we don’t need permission from overzealous police, a marshal or a city council official to perform that sacred duty.
Let those who have got ears hear.
Meanwhile, surprises galore appear to be the order of the day in our league although it is still in its infancy. All ready “small clubs” such as Hwange, Buffaloes and FC Kariba, are showing early signs of the final destination of our country’s most coveted league trophy.
But, we repeat, its early days and we will wait until the fat lady sings.
*I had to watch in bewilderment as my team Liverpool let slip a 3-0 lead at Crystal Palace to draw 3-3 last Monday.
The Reds exceeded expectations to come tantalisingly close to ending an agonising 24-year title wait but defeats by Chelsea and the draw at Crystal Palace in the last two games have dealt a body blow to our hopes.
Now we have to beat Newcastle United today, and hope that Manchester City lose at home to West Ham United this afternoon.
We can only hope for at best, divine intervention, but perhaps, at a worst a miracle. As they say miracles do not happen, but in soccer they do.
To coach Brendan Rodgers thanks to you for a remarkable season, the spirited campaign. You and your players have put Liverpool on the world map again.
To Manchester United fans the season that ends today proved that you are not invincible after all.
At least it has been quiet in the neighbourhood.
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