ZIFA village rehab marks a Great transformation in the Zimbabwean Football

11 January 2024

Makhosethu Ndlovu

The rehabilitation of the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) Village marks a significant transformation in Zimbabwe’s football infrastructure, paving the way for a brighter future for the sport in the country.

The project, will not only address the long-standing accommodation challenges faced by national teams but also provide a modern and functional hub for hosting various football activities and events, ultimately taking Zimbabwean football to the next level.

ZIFA CEO, Yvonne Manwa, highlighted that they are trying to catch up with international football and noted that the village is not only for football, but also for other sporting codes.

” Most football associations have technical institutions and we’ve been lacking behind , so we are beginning to grow in a way that football should go and we catching up to the rest of the world and for us we’re privileged because this is in a perfect location in the new city . It opens up for so many opportunities not just for ourselves, because the vision is big . We intend to make it a high performance centre not just for football but other discipline in sporting codes,

” It also speaks to the commercial aspects that we want to get into , to make it an incoming generation project for us and make it a standard for the country, said Yvonne Manwa .

ZIFA Normalisation Committee Chairman, Lincoln Mutasa, also highlighted that the village will be used generationally, as it is now the new home of football, which will accommodate all age groups.

” Now , this project will actually enable ZIFA to be able to host their own players or their various teams , they’ll have their own sort of like technical centres , were ultimately we’ll have a high performance centres , where all the identified players could have actually come and train at these pitches in preparation for the game , while representing the national team,” said Mutasa

” But as we start , I think it’s very important for us to acknowledge the help that we have received from the ministry, SRC as well as the ministry of public works and local government, who have seen it wise to actually ensure that the ownership of ZIFA returns to this property , ” he added

The ZIFA Village rehabilitation project, funded under the FIFA Forward Programme, has commenced with Phase I, which entails refurbishing the boarding house and transforming the technical centre into a modern office block and conference room.

The project’s first phase, set to last approximately 70 days, aims to improve the village’s functionality and address national teams’ accommodation challenges.With Phase I nearing completion, plans are already underway for Phase II, which will involve constructing a standard technical centre and football pitches, further enhancing the village’s infrastructure.