We're a Nation of Football, Not Violence

ZIMBABWE'S two biggest football clubs, Dynamos and Highlanders, clash in what promises to be an explosive Castle Lager Premiership showdown at Rufaro Stadium this afternoon, in the latest duel for supremacy between the two giants. 

The big match comes against a background of the violent disturbances that rocked the capital's second biggest football stadium, just two weeks ago, when some of the Glamour Boys fans, upset at the club's defeat to FC Platinum, turned themselves into hooligans and fought running battles with the police.

That violence was condemned by the Government, zifa, the Sports Commission, the Premier Soccer League, police and the DeMbare leadership, who even mooted the idea of shifting their home games, including today's match against Bosso, to the National Sports Stadium.

The Dynamos fans were unhappy that their leadership had dumped Portuguese coach Paulo Jorge Silva who, somehow remains popular among the club's supporters despite a poor run in which he just won one match, their first loss against FC Platinum at home and what they believe to be questionable leadership by their leaders.

We're a Nation of Football, Not Violence

Amid the mayhem, property worth thousands of dollars was destroyed, with the club's secretary-general Webster Chikengezha's car being smashed by the hooligans, and once again Zimbabwe football was left searching its soul after another violent episode at a football ground.

We condemned that violence because we don't believe that it has any place in the beautiful game called football and we said that the Dynamos family, as it struggles to find a remedy to the challenges they are facing right now, should unite in search of a solution rather than turn into a playground for hooligans who have no respect to the virtues that make sport such a massive attraction to billions across the globe.

Such actions, inevitably, scare away sponsors and leaves clubs like Dynamos, who rely a lot on the investment of such corporates like BancABC for the salaries of their players and technical staff, in a dilemma should these backers believe that their name is being dragged through the mud by their association with the club.

Already, Chikengezha, a Harare business executive, is reviewing his continued association with the club after he told this newspaper on Thursday night that he is set to meet the club's board of directors to discuss the recent events which he feels have soiled his image.

There are no winners, but only losers, whenever there is violence and we are charmed by efforts that we have seen from the supporters of Dynamos, who have refused to be dragged into the circle of hooligans, who this week launched a spirited campaign calling for an end to violence.

We are also charmed by the contribution of the Highlanders fans in this campaign which gives us hope that the majority of the country's football supporters are not a violent lot and will resist all attempts to turn our football grounds into battlegrounds.

Our appeal to the DeMbare leadership is that they should put their house in order and turn this giant into a competitive outfit again, something that their fans are used to, a force that can challenge for honours again and cheer the spirits of their supporters.

The onus is on the leadership to assemble a team that can be competitive and we have already witnessed the fruits of a good leadership at their big rivals, CAPS United, who have now risen to become a powerful force that is among the two leading teams in the championship race.

This time, last year, CAPS United were in chaos with their players boycotting the match against How Mine in Bulawayo over unpaid dues as Harare businessman Twine Phiri struggled to pay the bills related to running the club.

Phiri did the right thing and transferred the club's ownership to his fellow director, Farai Jere, who has managed to stabilise the Green Machine by providing funding for the players and coaches' dues and creating a professional environment at the club.