The Clash of the Forgotten Kingdoms
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A million miles from the five-star lives of the superstars headed for the FIFA World Cup, the national football team of Matabeleland are hoping to board a ‘chicken bus’ and travel for 20 hours to play against Barotseland on August 12 and boost their chances of qualifying for the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup - a World Cup for states, nations and peoples not recognised by FIFA.
Matabeleland is a region of Zimbabwe, geographically just larger than England, between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers and its inhabitants, the Ndebele people have suffered decades of discrimination and persecution including what is widely labelled a genocide in the 1980s at the hands of the Zimbabwean government.
The national football team is a valuable statement of expression and a crucial way of honouring Matabeleland’s proud identity through sport.
Football is thriving in Matabeleland with teams travelling from 4 a.m. to attend the recent inaugural Royal Cup and the Football Association is run on the ethos of ‘development through sport, soccer for human rights and community development.’
It is hoped that the Matabeleland team will attend the CONIFA World Football Cup in 2018, but in order to do so they must qualify by playing against other non-FIFA recognised states. That’s easier said than done when dealing with thousands of miles and a lack of funding.
The team of Barotseland, the traditional home of the Barotse but occupied by Zambia’s government, has invited Matabeleland to play them in a gesture of solidarity, but simply getting to the match will be a victory in itself.
The players plan to travel from Bulawayo on an infamously cramped public bus, known as the ‘chicken bus’, before crossing the border to Zambia at Livingstone and getting on another equally cramped bus to Mongu in Barotseland.
The costs of this game are trivial in comparison to other international teams, but Matabeleland are relying on football lovers around the world to unite behind them and allow them to play the game of their lives.
For the cost of one hotel room for an international footballer at a FIFA tournament, we can send the entire Matabeleland team to Barotseland and make a strong statement that football can overcome prejudice and that everyone deserves the right to express their identity through sport.
Matabeleland is a region of Zimbabwe, geographically just larger than England, between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers and its inhabitants, the Ndebele people have suffered decades of discrimination and persecution including what is widely labelled a genocide in the 1980s at the hands of the Zimbabwean government.
The national football team is a valuable statement of expression and a crucial way of honouring Matabeleland’s proud identity through sport.
Football is thriving in Matabeleland with teams travelling from 4 a.m. to attend the recent inaugural Royal Cup and the Football Association is run on the ethos of ‘development through sport, soccer for human rights and community development.’
It is hoped that the Matabeleland team will attend the CONIFA World Football Cup in 2018, but in order to do so they must qualify by playing against other non-FIFA recognised states. That’s easier said than done when dealing with thousands of miles and a lack of funding.
The team of Barotseland, the traditional home of the Barotse but occupied by Zambia’s government, has invited Matabeleland to play them in a gesture of solidarity, but simply getting to the match will be a victory in itself.
The players plan to travel from Bulawayo on an infamously cramped public bus, known as the ‘chicken bus’, before crossing the border to Zambia at Livingstone and getting on another equally cramped bus to Mongu in Barotseland.
The costs of this game are trivial in comparison to other international teams, but Matabeleland are relying on football lovers around the world to unite behind them and allow them to play the game of their lives.
For the cost of one hotel room for an international footballer at a FIFA tournament, we can send the entire Matabeleland team to Barotseland and make a strong statement that football can overcome prejudice and that everyone deserves the right to express their identity through sport.
Organizer
Confederation Of Independent Football Associations
Organizer
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