HISTORY-MAKING MUKURA REVELS IN HISTORIC FEAT

Tadious Manyepo

Zimpapers Sports Hub

LOVENESS Mukura has decided to immediately quit playing football to concentrate on administration after she was elected the ZIFA vice-president on Saturday.

The 36-year-old has captained Herentals Queens to the Women’s Soccer League title glory over the past three seasons.

She has been a huge cog for the Simba Dedza girls, who also reached the semi-finals of the CAF Women’s Champions League Cosafa Qualifiers in Malawi last August.

Mukura has been handed an important national blanket to administer the game, becoming the first woman to land the vice-president role at ZIFA.

She has duly announced she will no longer play professional football.

“First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone for the support, both positive and negative support made me strong to stand in this election.

“I am very humbled to realise that I am the first female vice-president at ZIFA. The feat is quite humbling and I look at myself and say, Thank you Lord.

“You know these are some of the things which you can never imagine can actually happen while growing up. You do dream about some of them but when they then actually happen, it feels incredible,” said Mukura.

She added:

“I love football and I have played the game at league level, winning three championships with Herentals Queens and getting to play in the CAF Women’s Champions League.

“The latter also ranks as one of the highest points of my football career but can’t compare with the ZIFA feat. I will now concentrate more on making sure the game is administered in a proper manner, working with my like-minded colleagues in the board led by president Nqobile Magwizi.

 “You feel like you are still fit to continue playing football but well, I think I will have to play at a social level to keep going as I want to devote most of my time doing what we promised during the campaign period.”

Mukura was a popular candidate with voters after shoving aside decent challengers Winnet Murota and Mavis Gumbo.

“That trust is a burden that I am happy to carry on my shoulders. You feel really humbled and proud to learn that when you had your discussions with voters and they promised to try you they really meant it.

“It’s never easy to just come straight from the field of play, preach the gospel you want to implement at ZIFA and the voters trust you with the pen. “It’s a show of confidence in you and that I will never take for granted.

“This is part of the reason why I will no longer play at a professional level. I want to lead the game and make it very professional. I believe we have a board of able leaders who will pull in one direction and make the game the winner at the end.

“I want to build my legacy as I don’t want to be remembered for being the first ZIFA female vice-president who let the game go down.

“The ZIFA assembly should be applauded for putting a provision in the new constitution that then paved the way for a female candidate to become one of the deputies.

“That is a huge step in the right direction. So for me, the position should not be academic. I have to work, together with my colleagues, to uplift both the female and male game in the country.

“To tell you the truth, I am happy to be entering the history books and that is driving me to want to work hard not to disappoint the nation which is obviously looking up to the newly-elected board to steer the game forward.

“We don’t want to fail the country’s game.”

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