Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Petros Kausiyo
27 February 2008
Harare — Zimbabwe's representatives in the Caf Confederation Cup - Highlanders - have revealed that they are in a quandary over their bid to raise US$40 000 to fulfil their preliminary round assignment in Mozambique at the weekend.
Highlanders are expected to travel to Nampula for a preliminary round, second leg tie against Ferroviario de Nampula on Sunday. The Bulawayo giants secured a healthy 3-0 first leg victory at Barbourfields two weeks ago that should stand them in good stead to advance to the first round.
However, Highlanders - who are planning to travel to Maputo on Friday - are still battling to secure the foreign currency component they need for the trip. Highlanders chairman Ernest Sibanda revealed yesterday that the former Premiership champions were still running around to raise the funds that would enable them to fulfil the fixture in Mozambique.
"We need US$40 000 and that is a lot of money. We are running around to try and get that money from all angles and if we don't get the full amount we might have to travel by road. "We are looking at travelling on Friday and we will see how it goes during the course of the week, but I must admit that things are getting tough for us. "I don't know how we are going to survive in this campaign because we are struggling with the finances as the costs just keep getting higher and higher," said Sibanda.
But away from their financial woes, Sibanda said Bosso were still in high spirits and confident of finishing off the Mozambicans. Highlanders would also have to put behind them their Nestle Charity Shield 2-1 aggregate loss to bitter rivals Dynamos at Gwanzura last Sunday.
Sibanda said they had learnt from previous experience that despite carrying a healthy lead, they could not afford to travel to Ferroviario de Nampula to preserve that first leg advantage.
After all, Bosso once travelled to Yaounde with a 3-0 cushion over Sable de Battie of Cameroon but crashed by a similar margin before bowing out of the African Champions League contest after a penalty shootout. It is against the background of such experience that Sibanda said Bosso would be aiming to score at least an early goal in Nampula and thereby unsettle their hosts. "There is an age-old saying in football that in order to defend you have to attack so we will be looking for a goal at all costs when we go there.
"We know that they will be coming hard at us and I don't believe we should take a defensive approach because if you just sit back and defend you are bound to make a lot of mistakes that will cost you dearly. "We have to exploit all the gaps they will leave at the back while they come at us and I am sure once we get a goal we would also have made life very difficult for them as they would have to score five times," Sibanda said.
Highlanders' fellow Zimbabwe representatives Dynamos also faced a similar predicament two weeks ago ahead of their trip to Swaziland when they desperately sought for US$30 000 for the trip to Mbabane.
Dynamos eventually chartered an Air Zimbabwe flight to and from Mbabane with their new leadership also playing a part in raising the funds. DeMbare will, however, be at home to Royal Leopards for the second leg of their African Champions League preliminary round clash. Royal Leopards are, according to Zifa chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya, expected to arrive in the country by road on Saturday.
Rushwaya said they had met with the Dynamos management on Monday to ensure all the logistics needed for Sunday's Champions League tie at Gwanzura were in place.
She said Zifa needed to ensure the smooth hosting of the Champions League match as all the continental assignments were the responsibility of the association, which would be held responsible by the Confederation of African Football should anything go wrong.
Rushwaya said they had also met with a Harare company, Askeland Media who are responsible for touchline advertising to avoid "any ambush marketing or any advertising that would attract Fifa or Caf sanctions". "We needed to map out a strategy together with Dynamos so that we do not leave any stone unturned. "For instance, Royal Leopards are arriving at Beitbridge border post on Saturday and we needed to discuss with Dynamos how we can make their entry at the border post smooth.
"As Zifa we have assigned our Eastern Region administrator Machawira (Thedius) to travel to the border and assist Royal Leopards on their arrival and their departure on Monday. "We also needed to come up with clearcut strategies with regard to gate control, security and general crowd control because there is a general problem at Dynamos where people surface on the day of the match claiming that they should be the cashiers or the chief cashier.
"We also had a meeting with Askeland Media and Dynamos where we gave them the Caf guidelines with regard to advertising at such matches which as Zifa we are bound to follow.
"Of course, some of the issues like the ban on rival mobile phone operators will come into play in the later stages of the competition. "There is need to avoid embarrassing situations whereby some touchline banners are pulled down moments before kick-off," Rushwaya said. Dynamos' sponsors - Savanna Tobacco - will be affected by the touchline ban as Fifa has outlawed tobacco advertising for international matches.
The Harare giants' chairman, Partson Moyo, said they had discussed the matter with their sponsors who were aware of the Fifa and Caf ban.
"Our sponsors are very much aware that there is a ban and even our kit on Sunday will not carry the sponsors' name," Moyo said.
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