Times Of Swaziland: IS VICTOR GAMEDZE REALLY THE ENEMY OF THE GAME? IS VICTOR GAMEDZE REALLY THE ENEMY OF THE GAME? ================================================================================ BY DUMISANI NTIWANE on 30/03/2014 07:45:00 Initially, I thought the prospect of telling off those fire-lighting Mbabane Highlanders marshals was too overwhelming to resist. I wanted to call on the firemen to be ever present now at every game Highlanders plays for who knows what these firelighters are capable of. It was, however, good to see the team promptly acting to bring the perpetrators of such evil to book. I can only hope it was not a publicity stunt. On second thought, I thought what the heck? As far as I know, no one sees anything wrong with what these hooligans posing as marshals do, as evidenced by the sudden uproar over the fines meted by the Disciplinary Committee (DC). No one sees anything wrong because from what we gather, so many people are accusing the Premier League of Swaziland (PLS), in particular the Chairman, Victor Gamedze. The fines are seen by many of the ‘Bull’ sympathisers as a witch hunt directed at the First Division giants. scourge No one would care to say the authorities are vigilant in trying to nip this ugly scourge in the bud. The team has not made it any better with their decision to call a press conference lamenting the PLS’ decision to write them a letter reminding them of their debt. No one else wonders how the organisation could have reminded the team of its debts without writing to Highlanders. Unfortunately, one man finds himself in all the boiling cauldron of the country’s football ills. It is non other than Gamedze. He happens to be the Mbabane Swallows boss as well. Therein lies the rub. Many, it appears, cannot differentiate between the PLS, Mbabane Swallows and Victor Gamedze as a person. formed The PLS is an entity formed by 24 clubs. For some reason, Gamedze always finds himself at the end of the stick. He has been subjected to insults and verbal abuse at any given opportunity. Why? Does it mean the rest of the 23 members making up the PLS are all puppets such that they agree with anything and everything Victor tells them to do? Then there is Mbabane Swallows, no doubt the most successful side in the last decade. Gamedze happens to be chairman at the club as well. He, however, is not the first chairman of the PLS to be actively involved in his team’s affairs. Let me rekindle your memory. Moses Motsa was in charge at both XI Men In Flight and the PLS. So was Tum’s Du Pont with his beloved Manzini Sundowns also holding the reigns at the PLS. Sipho Matse of Moneni Pirates did the same and so did Veli Dlamini of Umbelebele Jomo Cosmos. To then start accusing Gamedze of doing his team favours just because he is PLS chairman smacks of nothing but plain hatred. The same people who are talking ill of the man are the same ones that ensured a vibrant football administrator like Moses Motsa turned his back on the sport. It was no surprise that XI Men soon became history. enemies The real enemies of the game are those that also ensured a born leader like Veli Dlamini also turned his back on the beautiful game and small wonder Umbelebele Jomo Cosmos could be following closely in XI Men’s footsteps. The enemies of football are those that ensured teams in powerhouses like Mbabane Dribbling Wizards, Green Sea Bombers and Kwaluseni Rebels all died natural deaths. They are likely not to be heard of again in football’s top table. These are the same enemies of football that were calling for the removal of the security forces from the main stream league after Royal Leopard won the MTN League for three successive seasons. Instead of thinking and devising strategies on how best they could deal with the emerging new superpowers of local football, most of the teams could only curse and fold hands. It was only Gamedze who sat down, thought really hard how he could effectively challenge the forces’ sides. The results were awesome. That is why it is not surprising today to see that Gamedze’s team is the only side capable of challenging the forces’ teams. In the past decade, only Swallows have stood between the forces’ sides and glory. Where are the other teams? fortitude As I see it, Gamedze could be paying for his willfulness, determination, resolve, fortitude and guts. The man simply has the staying power. Instead of learning from him, the rest of the teams have found their pleasure in insulting and hurling abuse at him. I have a feeling he too, like some before him, will call it a day sooner rather than later. And where will that leave the local game? Can real football people look in the mirror and ask themselves honestly whether the local game would be richer or poorer without the man. For the first time in the history of football in Swaziland; local teams were given grants. To me, this indicates a brighter future but nobody will see that because we are all too busy stroking ach other’s egos and personally attacking individuals instead of looking at the bigger picture. Surely there are a lot of positives Gamedze’s leadership in the two years they have been in office has brought to the local game or are they not so plain to see?