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Zimpapers Sports Hub
ONE of domestic football’s most dedicated servants, Sharif Mussa is counting on his vast experience and extensive network to help him transform national game’s landscape if the Zifa Congress give him the mandate to be on the board.
Mussa is eyeing a seat on the Zifa executive committee at the association’s January 25 elections.
Long on experience, the veteran former Warriors and national teams’ general manager, has his name etched in the echelons of the game in this country since introducing himself as a volunteer during the 1995 Sixth All-Africa Games hosted by Zimbabwe.
He has since risen through the ranks to be on the Confederation of African Football (Caf) and Cosafa books being a General Co-ordinator and competitions committee respectively.
And it is his tried and tested acumen which he thinks makes him unique from a strong field of 38 contestants.
“It’s not really about me or the others but it’s about what I can offer to football which is important,’’ Mussa said.
“I think I have garnered enough experience to add value in the running of the Zimbabwe Football Association.
“I have been in the game for more than a decade serving in different capacities,” said Mussa.
“At the end of the day, what we all want to see is a corrupt-free system which protects the integrity of the game. I think we need a sound dispute resolution set-up to avoid letting football issues being taken elsewhere.
“That removes credibility and damages the game’s reputation and obviously sponsors do not want to be associated with something that has got a tainted image for obvious reasons.”
Mussa said football is all about posting success on and off the field of play and that way guarantees it to be vibrant.
“We can have integrity in the association, which I stand for, we can have good facilities and everything else in place but if you are not winning, then the value ceases to be seen. We need to capacitate our technical departments and make sure they get as much exposure for us to be successful.
“We need to take care of the players’ welfare both active and retired. It is our responsibility to create safety nets for the retired footballers so that they can still continue to earn a living well after their playing days
“We need to capacitate the councillors because they are the people responsible for driving football around the country through the affiliates be it Area Zones, Women, provinces, Naph, Nash, Tertiary institutions or Regions.
“I am a team player and I think as a collective we can turn around our football,’’ added Mussa said.
Mussa is synonymous with the national team having been the Warriors liaison officer in their maiden Africa Cup of Nations appearance in Tunisia back in 2004 before he became their manager a year later when they won the Cosafa Trophy in Mmabatho, South Africa.
He was also in the national team management when Charles Mhlauri’s Warriors qualified for the 2006 Afcon in Egypt.
Mussa was team manager when Zimbabwe reclaimed the Cosafa Cup on home soil in 2009 and retained the post when Zimbabwe played Brazil in a high-profile international friendly at the National Sports Stadium a month before the 2010 World Cup.
The Harare businessman would also manage the team in the Chan tournaments in 2014 under Ian Gorowa in Cape Town where they finished fourth.
Two years later he was manager when Kalisto Pasuwa’s Warriors returned to the Chan competition in Rwanda and in 2017 when they qualified for the Afcon with a game to spare.
Mussa is Zifa’s First Instance Board (FIB) chairman and has been instrumental in the fight to have the country’s stadiums spruced up to meet Caf standards.
“I think I have established wide contacts which can help improve the game in this country. Football is all about networking and that can add a lot of value.
“We can have partners from within the country including the Government and from outside the country as well.
“Our football will never go wrong in terms of value. We have stagnated for quite a long time and that should end.”
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