Uganda Rural Community Support USA

A pro democracy group has criticized the Elections Commission
(ECOM) for its ruling on Friday.

The Movement for Democracy and Elections in Liberia (MODEL) says ECOM’s
decision to clear the National Patriotic Party (NPP) of allegations that it
violated the elections law questions the commission’s credibility. It accused
the NPP of receiving foreign assistance. The accusation was initially published
in a newspaper, in which the NPP secretary general, Cyril Allen was alleged to
have said the party received an assistance from a Taiwanese millionaire. But Mr.
Allen denied making such statement. ECOM Chairman Paul Guah dismissed the
allegation as baseless. Mr. Guah said it was established during investigation
that NPP didn’t get any foreign assistance. The heart of the accusation is the
party acquired a fleet of vehicles worth thousands of dollars as contribution
from a Taiwanese millionaire. But ECOM said there’s no sufficient evidence to
substantiate the allegations. The commission further concluded that NPP bought
the vehicles from a local dealer, but didn’t say where it got the money from. In
its reaction, MODEL said the commission did not properly investigate the matter.
Liberian political parties are forbidden by law to receive foreign assistance.

* The University of Liberia Elections Commission says it has discovered no
counterfeit ballot during the weekend voting. The chairman of the commission
said only original ballots were found in the boxes. The clarification comes in
the wake of reports about the circulation of ballot papers on campus yesterday.
Mr. Armah Komehn said the stamp used on the back of the ballots lacks some basic
features of the one used by the commission. The commission said it would
investigate the matter.

* Polio has caused many people to be crippled in Liberia. A UNICEF official
says the high number polio victims is caused by children’s lack of protection
against the disease. UNICEF’s Country Representative Scholastica Kimaryo says
four out of five Liberian children do not have protection against polio. She
made the statement Friday at the dedication of an orthopedic center in Ganta.
The center will make shoes for physically disabled people. Madam Kimaryo called
on Liberians to immunize their children to prevent the high incidence of polio
infection.

* A survey report says Liberia has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in
the world. The survey was conducted by the Ministry of Health and UNICEF. The
report says girls as young as nine years old are bearing children. It said the
high rate of teenage pregnancy was responsible for the high rate of childhood
death in Liberia. The report said many young girls were being forced into
prostitution due to poverty. It said many parents were using their teenage girls
to provide food for their homes. The report said two Liberian parents are
estimated to have at least eight dependents to feed.

* An opposition member of parliament in Freetown has demanded the release of
former President Joseph Momoh from captivity. The acting leader of the All
Peoples Congress Party in parliament has said Mr. Momoh is being held by RUF
rebels. Mr. Serry Kamal, said he has written to President Tejan Kabbah and heads
of the two rebel organizations. Parliamentarian Kamal alleged RUF leader Foday
Sankoh ordered his commanders to detain ex-President Momoh in Makeni. Mr. Kamal
told his colleagues the former President was suffering from poor eye sight and
swollen feet. Former President Momoh was serving a five-year prison term when
the rebels set him free during their attack on Freetown last January. They took
him to Makeni, where he is reported to be in detention on orders of rebel leader
Sankoh.

* The West African Peace keeping force (ECOMOG) has expressed concerns about
the slow progress toward disarmament in Sierra Leone. ECOMOG Force Commander
Gabriel Kpamber made particular mention of the inter-faction fighting in Makeni.
Makeni is a Northern district headquarters in Sierra Leone. He says the fighting
has caused a set back to steps taken towards disarmament. Major General Kpamber
also blamed the delay in inaugurating the Joint Cease-fire Monitoring Committee.
He says the committee can not function in the absence of nominees from the AFRC
and the RUF rebels.

* The magisterial court in Cestos City Rivercess County is trying two men on
charges of rape. They were accused of rapping two girls after arresting them for
curfew. Police said the two girls were returning from choir practice at a local
church in Cestos City. The victims said they were forcibly taken away by the two
men who claimed to be security officers. The accused are currently in detention.
At the same time Police have launched a search for two suspected criminals who
broke jail in Cestos City. They are identified as Moses Jackson and Z.B. Police
said the two men were arrested last August on charges of property theft and
aggravated assault.

* The City government of Monrovia says it has no money to manage the city.
Mayor Maxwell Carter says the lack of funds was making it difficult for the MCC
to efficiently dispose of garbage in the city. Mayor Carter spoke today on a
Star Radio talk show. He said disposing of garbage in the streets and market
places was a cost intensive venture and needed support. Mr. Carter blames this
to poor collection, saying the Corporation was collecting only 15 percent
annually. He also said collection 30′000 Dollars monthly from the Liberia as
garbage disposal fee was inadequate for operation. Mr. Carter said this amount
was not enough to cover the cost of fuel and repairs to disposal trucks.
Meanwhile, mayor Carter said the MCC will next week begin to enforce city
ordinance on the painting of all structures before Christmas. He advised owners
of dwelling places to accordingly paint their buildings. He said the move is
intended to give the city a face lift.

* The body of the late chief of staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia is due
to arrive in Liberia tomorrow. A chartered flight of the Weasua Air Transport is
to bring the body from Abidjan. The Defense Ministry has ordered all members of
the armed forces of Liberia to be at the Roberts International Airport to
receive the body.

NOTE FOR EDITORS: Star Radio is staffed by Liberian journalists and managed
by the Swiss NGO Fondation Hirondelle with financing from the U.S. Agency for
International Development through the International Foundation for Election
Systems. Non-commercial redistribution is allowed, providing that the source is
quoted and no editing other than reformatting is made.

STAR radio, Sekou Toure Avenue, Mamba point, Monrovia, Liberia. Tel: (+231)
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Zimbabwe may have been thoroughly beaten by Australia in the recent
Test and limited-overs series, but the presence of the world champions in this
country did at least present local cricket fans with the rare opportunity of
watching cricket’s superstars perform.

Even more important was the fact that the brief tour by the Aussies also
highlighted, like never before, the apparent lack within Zimbabwe’s team, of a
natural and consistent leader capable of steadying the ship in crisis. This, of
course, is in reference to recent Press reports and talk within sports bars,
about the lacklustre performance of skipper Alistair Campbell, both as captain
and as batsman.

With the role of the captain seemingly more demanding than in other sports,
Campbell has been accused of making the wrong tactical decisions and of not
doing enough to motivate the team. South Africa’s Hansie Cronje, Australia’s
Steve Waugh and the West Indies’ Brian Lara, are good examples of captains who
are able to balance their roles as captains and players, especially when under
great pressure. Campbell would do well to learn from them.

Since this is not the first time Campbell’s leadership has been brought into
question, he needs to consider the possibility of stepping down from the
captaincy and concentrating on his batting performance.

This might be the tonic needed by the team to stop the slide. There is no
disputing the fact that Campbell is a talented player, but even his
predecessors, Dave Houghton and Andy Flower, had to step down when they felt
their batting was suffering. The lack of consistency has been another area of
great concern, with players performing superbly in one innings and crumbling in
the next.

As was witnessed during the Australian tour, the likes of Neil Johnson,
Murray Goodwin and Andy Flower scored a century, and half-centuries in some
innings, but were dismissed cheaply in others. In any case, the fact that some
of the players put in some significant scores but had limited support from the
other batsman, further shows the now common middle- and lower-order collapse
that has come to epitomise Zimbabwe’s game.

The national selectors urgently need to identify the side’s opening batsmen
and avoid the tendency to constantly change the openers in both Test and one-day
matches. The Grant Flower and Gavin Rennie opening partnership had the promise
of being a long and successful one, but that too, did not last long. Since last
year, when he joined the national team, Neil Johnson has come across as a proven
opener in both the bowling and batting in limited-overs cricket.

Grant Flower has proved as much as opening bat in Test matches. Both opening
batsmen have not found the necessary support which is essential in building good
partnerships in the Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten mould. The selectors
should not forget that Zimbabwe is the newest Test-playing nation and is still
on a learning curve and, therefore, should be imaginative in the team selection.
And, places in the team should not be guaranteed for any players who are
suffering long spells of poor form, no matter how long they have been in the
team.

If the Pakistanis can throw caution to the wind, and draft into their team a
talented 15-year-old against South Africa or Australia, maybe the selectors
should try out youngsters such as the Mutenderas and Blignauts more often, and
not just as replacements for established players who happen to be injured. The
only way for them to get the necessary exposure and experience is to play them
whenever possible and thus mould them into hardened Test cricketers. Now the
hope is that the academy will take up that role of nurturing and then introduce
that talent into the side.

For a sport which has so far been free of petty squabbles and has been hailed
as one of the best run in the country, a few cracks have started to appear in
the cricket establishment. Not least, the Australian Press reports that Murray
Goodwin was unhappy with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union’s treatment of the ’star
players’, revealed that all was not well between the union and players. Goodwin
complained of a “lack of professionalism” on the part of the ZCU and that he was
not happy with his pay package.

According to the reports, Goodwin had even contemplated returning to
Australia to play in the Sheffield Shield. He later played down the allegations
and apologised to the union, but the disagreements had already started to show.
There were also some queries as to why the first phase of the ongoing
construction of stands at Harare Sports Club had not been completed before the
Australians’ arrival.

A couple of stands still needed some finishing touches and were yet to be
completed when the one-off Test match got underway. After all, Zimbabwe had not
played any Test or limited-overs matches at the HSC for at least 12 months, and
so had ample time to undertake any construction work needed. In the field,
however, it should be noted that Zimbabwe usually has a very slow and
disappointing start to the season and then finishes with a flourish as was the
case last season.

Zimbabwe ended the year brilliantly by beating India and Pakistan in
successive Test series having started the season with heavy defeats in New
Zealand. One hopes that Campbell and company get into top gear now and not at
the end of the season, especially with this being their busiest season ever.

Zimbabwe’s tennis is set for a boom. That is the belief of Gavin
Siney, Zimbabwe’s Davis Cup non-playing captain for the past 10 years.

With Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi set to make the trip to Zimbabwe, and
Serena or Venus Williams also likely to visit the small southern African nation,
who can doubt Siney’s belief? Siney is one man who, just like Byron and Wayne
Black, has played a pivotal role in Zimbabwe’s rise from the African Zone One to
its present World Group status.

To be in the World Group means Zimbabwe is one of the 16 elite nations that
play Davis Cup tennis, and Siney has captained the team continuously since 1992.
In fact, he has been in charge of 19 successive Davis Cup ties.

This means Siney has been the man in charge of both the technical aspect and
the overall training of the team, as well as the assessment of the strengths and
weaknesses of the opposition. Some, however, only know Siney through his
involvement with the Davis Cup team and are not aware that he has been involved
with Zimbabwean tennis as a player and coach for longer than that. Not many are
aware that Siney featured regularly and won a number of tournaments as a player
at Highlands Sports Club, where he graced the stage from the age of 13.

After that he held various coaching positions with the Zimbabwean junior
teams. Some might want to ask, how did he end up a coach? Arguably the most
travelled tennis coach in this country, the beginning of his tennis coaching
career came in 1990, when he attended the International Tennis Federation’s
Southern African Training Camp in Botswana, before joining the regional training
camp in Spain the same year. In 1991, Siney went to Dublin, Scotland, for the
7th ITF Worldwide Coaches’ Symposium, and two years later, he was in Florida, in
the United States for the 8th Worldwide Coaches’ Symposium. However, his ability
as a coach had been tested earlier, before he had acquired any form of coaching
training in 1987.

That year, he was attached as both coach and manager to the Zimbabwean junior
team for the ITF World Youth team qualifying round The following year, the coach
made five foreign trips, which included the ITF World Youth Cup in Algeria, and
also went to the cup finals in Australia. He made his third trip of the year to
the ITF Junior Orange Bowl, and followed this up with Eddie Heer tournament and
the Sunshine Cup in Florida.

He also travelled to the ITF South American Circuit in Mexico, Venezuela,
Colombia and Ecuador. Siney then led the Zimbabwean World Youth Cup team to the
finals in Barcelona, Spain. His abilities as a leader did not take long to be
recognised. In 1992, he was offered the task of becoming Zimbabwe’s Davis Cup
captain.

His early assignments came when he led the Zimbabwean team to victories over
Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Morocco in the African Zone Group One. This was the
same year in which Wayne Black and Rashid Hassan made their maiden appearances
in the Zimbabwean team. The victories led to Zimbabwe’s promotion to the Euro
Africa Zone One the following year.

In that year, Zimbabwe beat Norway to set up a showdown with Croatia for that
vital place in the World Group. But the Croatians, parading the likes of the
then world number seven, Goran Ivanisevic, proved too powerful for Zimbabwe. The
Zimbabweans, however, still kept their place in the Euro-African Zone One for
the 1994 competition. Zimbabwe went on to demolish Luxembourg 5-0, and then
accounted for Switzerland and Slovenia to set up a World Group qualifying duel
with the Czech Republic.

But this, once again, did not yield the required results, as the Zimbabweans
found themselves on the receiving end. But the southern African nation was to
come back a much stronger team in the next year’s competition. Zimbabwe bundled
out Switzerland, Ukraine, Austria and Great Britain to qualify for the first
time for the World Group. The whole world was stunned.

What had looked like the impossible had happened, hence the celebrations that
lit up Harare. Whites, coloureds, blacks and Asians were all united as they
celebrated Zimbabwe’s first-ever qualification to the World Group. What made the
achievement even sweeter was the fact that the Zimbabweans had not only beaten
Great Britain in London, but had at the same time, become the only African
country to reach the World Group stage. More, however, was still to come.

Drawn to face Australia, in the next round, the Zimbabwean team was written
off long before it travelled to the Australian town of Mildura. Even the
Zimbabweans themselves never dreamt they could upstage the mighty Aussies, who
had such top tennis players as Patrick Rafter and the world’s top doubles team,
Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde. Against all odds, the Zimbabweans stunned
the Australians 4-1 in their own backyard to set up a quarter final place
against Italy.

Siney looks back with pride to the day they humiliated the Austrians. “That
was the greatest thing to happen in my career. I hope there will be many moments
like that to cherish in the next years,” he said. Siney, however, is still not
satisfied.

He hopes to acquire a few more accolades, and a few more tributes, before he
moves into the history books once and for all. He looks forward to the future
with eargerness.

He knows the mighty Americans are waiting for the Zimbabwean challenge, but
is confident that the Zimbabweans will come out tops. “When we went to Australia
nobody gave us any chance. Against the Americans nobody is giving us any chance,
but let me tell you this is sport and anything can happen.

Just like the Americans, we are going into this tie to win and win we should.
“We have the advantage of a familiar home turf and a very large crowd to cheer
us all the way,” said Siney. Siney believes Zimbabwe is strong enough to
maintain its place in the elite 16-team World Group. Zimbabwe is currently the
only African country in this group. He makes no secret of who he admires in the
sport of tennis: “Byron and Wayne Black.” Siney was born in Harare 36 years ago.

He attended Mashaba Junior School before proceeding to Bindura Primary
School. His high school education took him to Marlborough High, Chaplin, and
Ellis Robins.

He is married to Lindsay and the couple has two children. Besides being put
in charge of the Zimbabwe Davis Cup team, Siney coaches a number of top juniors
at Highlands Tennis Centre, where he has been a full-time coach for the past 11
years. During his free time he plays golf and spends time with his family.

Failure has now become the order of the day in Zimbabwean rugby. The
country which proudly held aloft Africa’s banner at the 1987 and 1991 World Cup
finals has now been relegated to the status of under-achiever.

Failure to make the 1999 finals drew attention to the growing malaise within
the game. For the whole of this month, the followers of Zimbabwean rugby have
had to endure the frustration of watching other nations display their skills on
television. The Zimbabwean team has failed to make an impression even against
the South African provincial teams.

These teams have the reputation for playing attractive quality rugby and
needless to say, their margin of victory against the Zimbabweans was very high.
Zimbabwe lost 79-9 to Western Transvaal, 96-3 to Eastern Province, 96-5 to
Boland, and 95-13 to Eastern Transvaal. While Zimbabwean rugby is deteriorating
its rivals in Africa are making enormous strides.

Ivory Coast were one of two African representatives at the 1995 finals in
South Africa, while recently, Namibia held that honour at the finals in England.
Although the two did not win any matches, simply making the elite 20 was enough
to increase their prestige. In addition to that, they were awarded millions of
dollars by world rugby’s governing body. Many theories are being advanced for
Zimbabwe’s total collapse as evidenced in the 1999 qualifiers.

Many put this down to the shortage of new talent and over-reliance on the old
guard who have long outlived their usefulness. “These guys were facing younger
and faster players from other countries hence they could not cope. There is no
doubt that our future in the game lies with a new crop of heroes.

Our game can only be lifted if we invest in our juniors. “What we need is to
take advantage of the Cottco schools rugby festival and identify good players
for the future,” said rugby coach, Themba Mliswa. The Zimbabwe Rugby Union seems
to have heeded this call. A rugby academy has been set up in Borrowdale and
according to national coach, Mark Donato, the aim is to have a bigger base from
which to choose when the Zimbabwe national team begins its preparations for the
2003 World Cup finals. The academy will have an initial intake of 20.

It will be run on the same lines as that of World Cup semi-finalists
Australia. The objective is to identify the best high school players through the
available tournaments and then hone them to international standards. The academy
has already received $200 000 from the local cellular company, Econet. The
results of the programme, however, will not be immediate. But the academy alone,
may not be the solution to Zimbabwe’s rugby woes. International exposure is also
needed if they are to meet the demands required at the highest level. The
Zimbabwe Rugby Union’s George Mubako admitted as much.

“In 1998,” he said, ” we only had one international tournament. Is that
enough for a country that dreams of making a mark on an international tournament
as big as the World Cup?” Other critics believe that as long as the standard of
the domestic league remains low, the national senior team will always fail to
make an impression internationally. “Our game has to turn professional.

We should reach a situation whereby those from outside this country will want
to play here. In this way, we will improve our standard,” said Neil Patterson, a
rugby follower.

Zimbabwe has been accorded the right to host the 2000 edition of the
African Zone Six Golf Championship. Information at hand indicates that the event
will bring together top amateur golfers from South Africa, Malawi, Zambia,
Kenya, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland and the hosts.

The Zone Six tournament will be staged a week before the annual Zimbabwe
Amateur Championship. This will mean the local championship could have the added
incentive of attracting an international flavour, as some of the regional
golfers are likely to arrive in the country earlier in order to acclimatise. The
African Zone Six contest-one of the biggest amateur events to come in the year
2000-will be staged at Leopard Rock during the last week of April.

The Leopard Rock has just been nominated for the prestigious Hertz 2000
International Awards, the winners of which would be announced in December at the
Portuguese Algarve resort of Vilamoure, one of the golfing capitals of the
world. Nominated for the Resort and Golf Course of the Year in the African and
Middle East section, Leopard Rock vies for the honour along such famous
contenders as Palace of the Lost City and Fancourt and Country Club in South
Africa, as well as the Dubai Greek Golf Course and the Emirates Majlis in Dubai.

Leopard Rock’s managing director, Derek Paxton, was delighted upon the
course’ nomination and said the honour of being nominated recognises the
international calibre of this outstanding golf course. “This is the second year
we have been nominated for this award and it puts us on the map with top
European and Asian golfing resorts, such as the legendary Gleneagles in
Scotland, and the Blue Canyon County Club in Thailand.

Other golf courses included in this line-up are Wentworth in England, San
Lorenzo Golf Course in Portugal and Mauna Kea in Hawaii,” said Paxton. It is
also interesting to note that golfing professionals such as Nick Price, Mark
McNulty and the legendary Gary Player have used their tactical know how to
attain top scores from the Leopard Rock course.

Rogan Norvall rode Northern Mistrel to victory in the $200 000
Schweppes Gold Cup at Borrowdale Race Course yesterday. Northern Mistrel hit the
tape ahead of Blushing Becky, Mistle Cat, and Willain Henry. There was no doubt
about Northern Mistrel’s ability to win the race.

The Alister Mcnaughton trained horse had shown excellent form prior to the
race, cruising to victory in two successive race meetings. Mcnaughton now takes
over the reins from Noeleen Peech as the holder of the Schweppes Gold Cup
trainers’ title. Peech was the trainer of the 1998 winner, Windgorgate, which
was ridden by veteran jockey Eddie de Klerk. The second placed horse, Blushing
Becky, was ridden by Rael Zieve and trained by Paul Matchett. Matchett had five
horses in the 19 race contest. This means Northern Mistrel now leads the race
for the Sprinters’ Championship.

The Schweppes Gold Cup is the first leg of the Sprinters Championship, and is
regarded on the Zimbabwean racing calendar along the same lines as the OK Grand
Challenge, the Castle Tankard, the Rothmans Derby the Rainbow Tourism race.

The Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) and Premier Soccer League
clubs are being prejudiced of thousands of dollars through the abuse of the VIP
stands, The Standard has established.

It is understood that when matches are played, a number of prominent
businessmen fill the VIP stands with truckloads of people who are allowed to
watch the matches free of charge, thus depriving the national federation and
individual premier league clubs of thousands of dollars-week-in and week-out.

The VIP stand usually costs $400 per person-a great deal more than is charged
for ordinary seats. In fact, a bodyguard of one businessman was involved in an
altercation with a sports writer who had questioned why all the people in the
businessman’s two twin cab vehicles had been allowed to occupy the VIP stand for
free during the recent Dynamos and St Louisienne match. A twin cab can carry up
to 11 people and so the loss to Dynamos and Zifa was quite considerable.

Although the businessman claimed to have paid for all the people he had
brought with him, he failed to produce proof of payment when challenged to do
so. The Standard has since established that free entry to the VIP area is being
gained on payment of a small kickback fee to officials manning the big car entry
gate. On Wednesday, Zifa secretary general, Ndumiso Gumede confirmed that free
entry into matches was being gained through bribery and other means. Zifa
treasurer, Frank Valdermarca, told The Standard that they would act decisively
to end the problem.

“The issue here is one of control. We have made it clear that without a
ticket nobody should be allowed in. Now we hear that some of our officials are
allowing people to go in freely. They are not being honest and we don’t tolerate
that type of behaviour,” said Valdermarca.

Valdermarca said Zifa believed that the system they had in place worked under
normal circumstances, but if officials manning the gates were not honest, then
more stringent measures were required.

“If people do not adhere to their jobs, the next thing is to get rid of them.
We are going to regularly shift personnel from wherever they will be so that we
can identify exactly who the culprits are,” said the Zifa treasurer.

Valdermarca, who is known for his strict control of finances, told The
Standard that they would also regularly carry out their own spot checks and
whoever was found without a ticket would be physically removed from the match by
police. In June 1998, the National Premier Soccer League withdrew the cards
which permitted people to sit in the VIP stand during match. This followed
revelations by The Standard that a number of soccer fans and others who falsely
claimed to be officials of NPSL clubs were being issued with free $100 cards for
the VIP stand. The paper also reported that relatives, girlfriends and friends
of high ranking soccer officials were also in possession of these cards.

The question, however, was how they had managed to obtain the cards. The then
NPSL secretary, Chris Sibanda, told The Standard: “I would like to warn those
so-called big guys who come to matches with their girlfriends in posh cars and
then want to get in for free, that with effect from today only those involved
with the promotion of football will be allowed in.”

These so called big guys enter our games free, and then go to night clubs and
hotels to buy beer with the money they were supposed to pay to watch our
matches.

“These guys arrive at matches at 2.45pm (15 minutes before the start of game)
and then cause havoc as if they are state presidents. They make noises with
their cars, bulldoze their way through the crowds, and block the playing teams
from entering. If they want to be state presidents, then they should do that in
their own homes. When they come to watch our games, they have to pay,” said
Sibanda.

Whether the present administrators will be able to rid the sport of soccer of
these problems, remains to be seen.

The director of the Black Aces Football Club, Edgar Ricardo-Serafim
has died. Serafim was admitted to the Avenues Clinic last Thursday and was
pronounced dead yesterday morning.

Premier Soccer League chairman, Wellington Nyatanga, told The Standard that
from his understanding, Ricardo-Serafim had died of cerebral malaria. He added:
“I am deeply shocked by Serafim’s death. He contributed greatly towards the
improvement of football in this country.”

When Serafim bought Aces, we thought all the problems at the club have been
solved. Now we hear that he has passed away.

“We will be greatly missed by us all. Black Aces won’t be the same without
him.” Serafim took over control of the club a few months ago injecting into it,
the much needed finance. Serafim’s death comes barely months after the
Zimbabwean football community was faced with the death of Chris Mudonga, owner
of Hackney.

Zimbabwe’s Young Warriors are on the verge of making history when
they entertain Olympic champions Nigeria in an Olympic Games qualifier at the
National Sports Stadium, this afternoon.

Although they go into the match as underdogs, the Zimbabweans have nothing to
fear from a Nigerian side which has struggled with its game. Although widely
acclaimed as the top footballing nation on the continent, Nigeria has, since
winning the 1996 Olympic gold medal, had nothing else to boast about at junior
level. The Under 17 title went to Cameroon, while the Under 20 championship is
safely in the hands of Ghana, and so just like Zimbabwe, Nigeria will have to
struggle to make an impact today.

Although the team still maintains its unbeaten record since the 1996 Atlanta
finals, a great deal has changed since that moment of magic when Arsenal’s
Nwankwo Kanu, scored the winning goal for Nigeria in the Olympic final against
Argentina. Today, the Nigerians face a Zimbabwean team bent on making history.
The Nigerian team, christened ‘Dream Team 11′, is filled with players who
featured in the African Under 20 final in Ghana, but who were a disappointment
when they hosted the World Championship.

Despite playing at home, the Nigerians were eliminated in the quarter finals
by Mali, a result that cost long term coach, Tunde Disu his job. Julius
Aghahowa, Hasimu Garba, Ejike Emmanuel, and goalkeeper, Sam Okoye were all part
of the team that disappointed at the World Championship, and so Zimbabwe have a
lot to hope for today. The star of the team, however, is Pius Ikedia.

The fact that he turns out for Dutch champions, Ajax of Amsterdam is enough
to scare even the strongest of opponents. Along with Barcelona’s Haruna
Babangida, they were the stars of the team at both the African and the World
Championships. However, Ikedia tends to dribble too much forgetting that matches
are won through scoring of goals and not by entertaining the crowd.

This could work to the advantage of the Zimbabweans. Although the record of
the Nigerians over the past two years does not look all that impressive, their
coach, Willy Bazuaye, remains optimistic of their chances.” We have come here to
win and we will win.

We are already thinking of defending our title in Sydney,” he said. When
asked whether it did not scare him that Zimbabwe had thrashed Uganda 3-0,
Bazuaye said, ” We are not Uganda, we are Nigeria.” Well, neither are the
Zimbabweans the Angolans whom the Nigerians beat in Lagos.

Today, the Nigerians face a star studded Zimbabwean team keen to cause an
upset. Should this happen, the team stands to benefit financially. Apart from
the bonuses likely to be dished out by the Zimbabwe Football Association, a
local company, Con Plant Technology, has promised to give $300 to each player
for every goal scored by the team.” This is just the beginning of our
involvement with the team.

We hope that the little we have offered will spur the team to victory,” said
Ben Chiondegwa, managing director of Con Plant Technology. With a striking force
that includes the likes of Benjamin Mawruwaru and Joel Luphahla, Chiondegwa
could be forced to fork out more than expected. To cap it all, there is the
exciting Blessing Makunike to give the midfield that much needed creativity.
With his splendid interceptions, twist and turns, and the ability he has of
finding the right man at the right time, Makunike has to be the creative
midfielder Zimbabwe has been awaiting since the retirement of Archiford
Chimutanda, Stix Mtizwa, Joel Shambo and Moses Chunga. Today is the day to prove
to the whole world that Zimbabwean football has come of age.

The decision to award Nakuru Police Super League points was made by
the National League and Competitions Committee and not the Central Zone Super
League committee, the zone committee secretary Humphrey Macharia says.

He was reacting to a statement by NSSF chairman Patrick Amollo accusing his
committee of awarding two matches to Nakuru Police against Kericho Posta and
Sher Agencies.

Police had lost 2-0 to Sher Agencies and drawn 3-3 with Kericho Posta, but
Nakuru Police lodged an appeal directly with the National League and Committee
instead of the zone’s disciplinary committee.

KFF’s Nairobi branch chairman Levi Obondo, also from the Central Zone, has
meanwhile added his voice to the controversy alleging that the KFF national
office had wanted to scrap the Super League.

“We have received no appeal from the teams. They are supposed to pay a
stipulated amount on appeal, which they have not done and we could not therefore
address their case,” Obondo explained.

He added that it was shocking that the matter had been taken to the national
office without the knowledge of the Central Zone.

“The national office have no mandate to decide on matters affecting the zone
because they do not run the Super League.”

But Nakuru Police chairman Peter Eregae defended his club’s decision, saying:
“We appealed to the KFF directly because it is the overall soccer governing body
in the country and its decision is final.”

After making it clear his committee would not go with the KFF ruling,
Macharia explained that as far as he was concerned NSSF were leading the
standings with 71 points from 36 matches.

Kimbo and Sulmac tie on 68 points with Nakuru Posta fourth on 65 with three
matches in hand.

In their appeal, the Nakuru side complained that both Kericho Posta and Sher
Agencies teams wore uniforms whose colours clashed with theirs. The appeal was
upheld and Kericho Posta and Sher Agencies were deducted points.

Macharia said: “NSSF were right in questioning that ruling, but I would like
them to know that we had nothing to do with it. We feel Nakuru Police were wrong
by filing their appeal with the national body.

“The Central Zone Super League is run under our jurisdiction and we have our
own IDAC (Independent Disciplinary and Appeals Committee) to deal with such
cases.

“Clubs can only appeal to the national body for redress if they are not
satisfied with the zone committee zone committee’s verdict.”