ZIFA presidential aspirant Gilbert Muponda says he did not want to split the vote between himself and rival candidate Nqobile Magwizi after making a surprise withdrawal from the race yesterday.
The Harare businessman instead said he was throwing his support behind Magwizi ahead of the January 2025 election since the two candidates shared the same vision and values.
Muponda has been engaging the football community for the past two months with a robust campaign hinged on five pillars that include commercialisation, monetisation, corporatisation, standardisation, and modernisation.
His withdrawal was announced just 24 hours before the close of the nomination process, which ends today.
“I’m partly disappointed with the withdrawal as well, but I am sure that you know how elections work, that you have a certain platform that you are campaigning based on, like your manifesto, your values, principles, and vision.
“If you look around the candidates and you see someone who shares the same vision with you, it means both of you are going to be chasing the same votes, or you get support from the same quotas.
“So, Magwizi and I were pushing a certain vision aimed at commercialising football and bringing corporate sponsorship, corporate structure, and corporate governance into our game.
“Our qualifications are almost similar, our vision is almost similar, so it means we are going to attract the same votes, and we risk splitting votes between myself and him.
“There are other candidates who we are still trying to engage to say, ‘Why don’t we stand down and give sup-port to one strong candidate who represents our vision and values, and that candidate can go and win the election,” said Muponda.
He believes Magwizi has the right credentials to lead the game.
“Nqobile Magwizi is qualified, experienced, and has a clean, proven record of mobilising resources for the game. He is the most deserving candidate who possesses the necessary skills and expertise required to transform Zimbabwean football.
“I sincerely believe we share the same vision, strategy, and skills to make our game great again, and as such I withdraw with full confidence that Nqobile Magwizi will transform the game when given the opportunity to lead ZIFA,” said Muponda in a Facebook post.
The ZIFA executive committee elections will be held on January 25.
