FIFPro laud FUZ, Marshall Munetsi over fight for Zimbabwe's FIFA reinstatement

By Velile Mnyandu
25th November 2023

Outgoing FIFPro General Secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann has hailed the return of Zimbabwe to international football this month as one of their success stories on the African continent.

Baer-Hoffmann was speaking after the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe (FUZ) claimed the 2023 FIFPro Union Impact Award during the FIFPro Congress in Cape Town on Friday.

With Zimbabwean football banned internationally by FIFA since 2021, due to alleged government interference, it took the intervention of FIFPro, FUZ, and Zimbabwean international footballers to convince FIFA to reinstate the Southern African country.

"We've seen this now as an example, the action of the players in Zimbabwe who were suspended and couldn't participate in international competition, but the players standing up allowed them to get back on the pitch," said Baer-Hoffman.

"This is fantastic for the fans and great for the entire youth development system in the country to get back on its feet, so all of these things are about more than just the players' own interests."

Warriors midfielder and former Orlando Pirates player Marshall Munetsi, who is now based in France, was at the forefront of helping his country to return to international football, and Baer-Hoffmann recognises the 27-year-old’s efforts.

"We had some meetings with Marshall and the [FUZ], along with delegates from FIFA, in which, I think for the first time, FIFA senior staff heard the players' perspective," he explained.

"They then understood that this was not just about institutional politics, and things they normally handled which are always about governance and political interests, but the players brought humanity and a reality to it.

"And they spoke to the impact that national team football has on the country, and I think listening to that moved the needle for FIFA to start acting more decisively.

"The players should feel great pride in that, and understand that they have that access, and that the union can be a vehicle to exercising that power."

READ: Reason behind SAFA's withdrawal from 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup bid