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OpenAspiring ZIFA President, Marshall Gore, Identifies Government As Key Stakeholder In Football
Marshall Gore, an aspiring ZIFA presidential candidate, has identified the Government as a key player in developing football in Zimbabwe.
With over two decades of experience as a football agent, Gore said that there is a need for people who are passionate about football to be in leadership positions for the sport to grow in the country. Said Gore (via The Herald):
My main reason for wanting to go for the president in the ZIFA elections is the pain we suffered as a country when we were suspended from international football.
I strongly believe that those problems could have been eliminated if we had people who had the game at heart.
So, I actually think that was a turning point for me, which led me to want to do this.
Gore said that, once elected, he plans to make football an all-inclusive sport that will receive support from the Government. He said:
We want to be in a position to say if the Government gives us a million dollars to put into grassroots football, we must demonstrate the dividend that will come out from that one million. What are the dividends?
We are looking at the targets. The targets will be making the sport inclusive, making sure that people in rural areas play football, and football is an agent for crime prevention…
Government should see the value of football. Gone are the days when the Government only came in to rescue the Warriors.
Why this happened is because the Government had a feeling that it’s not profitable to invest in football.
But we must submit a bankable business plan to them and have a contract with them. And then we move on to the private sector.
We want the private sector to come back into football. But we must clearly outline the deliverables if money comes to us.
So, we need to repackage the game and clearly position the private sector and show them the benefits that they will derive from sponsoring the game and clearly put the outcomes.
In the same vein, we must also engage the government to extend tax rebates to the companies that are loyal in supporting football development.
That is another way we can say to the Government, “Release tax rebates for companies that are investing in football.”
And then this can help us to also get revenue coming in so that we can effectively take off in growing the game.
Gore has been travelling across the country, meeting with ZIFA councillors, and promising to empower them through various training programmes.
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