ZIFA Presidential Candidate Trevor Carelse Juul Pledges to Revive Dream Team
'I am looking at creating revenue streams and wealth in football that will bring great success for us all. We are going to engage government to make sure that we have support from them.'
WASHINGTON DC — ZIFA presidential candidate Trevor Carelse Juul says he is contesting the hot seat in order to revive soccer in Zimbabwe where the local soccer body is saddled with a $6 million crippling debt. The former ZIFA chairman, who is battling it out with businessman Phillip Chiyangwa, former Warriors player James Takavada and Dynamos secretary general Leslie Gwindi, says he wants to engage all stakeholders in order to revive the spirit of the Dream Team that was coached by the late Reinhard Fabisch. “My plan is to carry on from where I left so many years ago and galvanize the support of the people again. I want to take the dream team to reality. That is my objective. “We need to look at this from a collective point of view where all the people come together. The reason why we had success when I was there previously was because we were able to bring in people from all everywhere who bought into this dream. Unless you bring people together you can’t achieve this objective.” Asked about his plans to settle the ZIFA debt, Carelse Juul said if elected he would immediately carryout a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of the debt. He said this would ensure that service providers are paid accordingly. “We have to engage with the people and negotiate a repayment structure over a period of time, percentages and dollars that we are looking at paying.” Apart from that, he said, it was important to create a strong finance base for the association. “I am looking at creating revenue streams and wealth in football that will bring great success for us all. We are going to engage government to make sure that we have support from them. But clearly what we are looking for is a methodology that would rebrand the football association, bring sponsorship and bring investment into football.” Fifty eight councilors, who constitute an electoral college and have the mandate to choose ousted ZIFA president Cuthbert Dube’s successor, are expected to elect a new president next month. Meanwhile, Chicken Inn chairman, Lifa Ncube, told Studio 7 his club which won the local soccer league last weekend will convene a meeting Friday to discuss modalities of participating in the African Champions League amid fears of a tight budget.