High risk high return – What we learned about Philip Chiyangwa, Ahmad Ahmad Victory at CAF.

When I started my graduate studies I was introduced to the concept of risk and return. From these fundamentals of economics there appeared to have been a consensus among theorists that with high risk in investments comes higher return. Without better practical application of the theory, it merely lived within my realm as mere statement but I believe today I can say something different. I have been one person who has followed with eagerness, the career path taken by the then villain Phillip Chiyangwa to manage national football matters in Zimbabwe. It may be an understatement to say that I was one of the sceptics but I was a critic of his involvement in the ‘world’s most beautiful game’. Part of my scepticism stemmed from his failed attempts to land posts in higher offices in government let alone some of his failed business ventures which are alleged to have swindled many of their hard earned cash through botched land deals. Some may say my reservations were misplaced but countless would agree with me that Phillip Chiyangwa isn’t a name many of the faint hearted would have loved to hear to be on the other end in any of their business transactions. Despite much of the failures attributed to him, the man remained resolute, flamboyance still being identified with his name even in the worst of times. He not only managed to live up to this tag but in my view went on to surpass the standard expected of that tag. In 2014, as a show of his success he managed to buy himself a brand new top of the range GL63 AMG and named it Tsivo (Revenge). Some took this for a mere public stunt but the man was on a mission.

Sceptics came to the party in 2015 when Phillip was elected ZIFA president, even sports reporters and journalists came to roost with tongue lashing comments, interviewing him and asking him scathing questions live on radio. Some of the public comments even attracted his sarcasm and emotion and many were not spared from his usual derogatory statements. But Philip sought to achieve something bigger and as he took office, he made sweeping changes and with the help of Wicknell Chivayo managed to bring a bit of sanity into Zimbabwean football which had been marred by confusion and chaos in the era of Curthbert Dube.

Phidza as he is affectionately known then surprised many of the football faithfuls when he landed the COSAFA presidency in 2016. At that time a lot of people started taking him serious as he started showing signs of influence in African Football. Even Ahmad the now CAF president could not resist and embraced the potential influence in the man appointing him his campaign manager -  a high level show of confidence. Perhaps drawing from the Zimbabwean political arena, Philip then sought to assert the influence of a new kind grouping of the so called Young Turks, “G40”, to initiate the storms of change in African football. In the process of initiating this change, Philip did attract the attention and drew the ire of the long serving, 71-year-old Issa Hayatou who rose to football prominence 29 years back. But wind back into 2016 again, against all odds, Philip began showing his mettle when he went against the then CAF president by openly voting for G. Infantino who later became FIFA president. As a show of appreciation Infantino even attended Chiyangwa’s birthday bash in Harare much to the discontent of Issa Hayatou who had already started sensing the winds of change. Hayatou even threatened Chiyangwa with disciplinary action but the man would not be moved. In some of the WhatsApp videos recorded by Chiyangwa, he is seen openly challenging Hayatou and promising to depose him from the throne, a promise which was fulfilled on 16 March 2017.

So many are wondering is it Phillip the Kingmaker? Or Phillip the Brave one? Or High Risk High Return? For the purpose of this article, I choose Philip the Brave. What lessons then does Phillip give us in the entire CAF fiasco?

1. Confidence – in going against Issa Hayatou, Chiyangwa knew what he was up against. He knew that he was going to upset the long serving leader but he remained confident of victory. In crafting his strategy, he didn’t look down on his opponent and he indeed came up with tactics that ensure victory in the end. As we also embark in our quest for success in this life, Philip does inspire us and gives us a true semblance of confidence and how it can carry the day. To be assertive and to focus on the goal no matter the kind of threats and pull down factors we may encounter.

2. Commitment – Philip remained committed to the cause of taking Zimbabwe to the footballing world. He had a plan on how he intends to do that and to date remains on course to achieving that goal. Indeed, it’s never easy to achieve consistency but it is the key to commitment. Remaining resolute even in the face of uncertainties that may come our way is important. Many great athletes such as Michael Johnson, and my favourite David Rudisha always reaffirms commitment to the cause as one of his greatest tools which has taken him to the hall of fame of the athletics world.

3. Calculated Risk Taking – without taking the initiative, the risk we cannot get to where we want to be. Many of us have faced situations in which they have had to make choices in life, some of them unfavourable and risky, but because they made that decision and with confidence remained committed to it, they enjoy the fruits that decision. Philip does leave with the same lesson, in going against the status quo he risk being sanctioned by CAF, sanctions which could have sucked in even the entire SADC region. But again proper planning had laid the ground work for the course of action to be taken. Phillip narrowly missed the prediction of how many votes Ahmad would get by only 1 vote. Hence with proper planning one can make a decision, no matter the outside risk associated with it, proper planning does bring down the likelihood of that risk.

4. Nothing is Impossible – coming from a political background of politics, Philip always knew that nothing is impossible. All that was need was to take the first step towards the goal. Chiyangwa took the first step in becoming the ZIFA president and used that as the launch pad to where he is today. To be identified as an agent of change in African Football.

5. The power of networks – as he attended FIFA hosted functions and as he travelled the world, Philip took that opportunity to network. To talk to some of the influential footballing icons and perhaps whispered his plans for football. It was in these established networks that he pulled off one of the greatest surprises in African football. Having the world’s football boss coming to your birthday party is a sure sign on good networking skills. I am sure the rewards for that networking will soon come to the fore.

6. Never under estimate you opponent – Issa Hayatou made one of the grave mistakes which the renowned Goliath did when he faced David, Indeed the battle in this African football arena seemed like a David v Goliath affair and again Goliath made the same mistakes of not realising that his opponent was backed by a powerful force behind. In Phillip, Issa failed to realise that Ahmad was backed by a force of change, one which not only Philip was driving but one which was shared by many who came out to be 34! So in life never underestimate the potential in one person by merely looking at them but rather offer them the opportunity to express themselves.