Football Administrator and ex-banker Simataa Simataa says he is hopeful that the gesture by Nkana Football Club Fans Fora to award K2,000 to the Man of the Match will inspire the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) and MTN to up their offer.
Simataa said the move is a good initiative by Nkana supporters and he hopes that they will be able to raise the amount as high as K10, 000 or more adding that supporters of other clubs should emulate Nkana supporters.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Simataa said MTN, which currently awards K500 to the Man of the Match should try to beat the supporters and offer more than whatever amount the supporters may offer.
He however said he has always been against the idea of awarding one person as the criteria in which it is done is questionable because it is difficult to choose one winner in a team of eleven players with more than one outstanding player therefore pausing a challenge in determining the most outstanding player.
“I don’t believe in the Man of the Match award because football is a team game, just imagine a star without the sky and the clouds, will it shine, so the reason why you see that the star is shining at night is because there is a cloud behind it. I don’t believe in awarding a player Man of the Match unless he is playing alone like a tennis player or a boxer”, he said.
He noted that the best option would be to raise enough money and pay the entire team the same amount if they win a game or pay them for a goal difference adding that if a team wins 2-0 when they only needed one goal to win, everyone should be rewarded for the extra one goal.
“Zambian players are not used to it, the guy who gets it may even go and boast and other players will start holding grudges, you find that the next game even when he is open to score no one is passing him the ball”, he said.
Simataa said football involves teamwork as the strikers and defenders including all the other players work hard therefore rewarding all the players would encourage everyone on the team to work extra hard.
“How do you say these two were both outstanding but this one was better, in which form, how do you determine excellence between a goal keeper and a defender, a striker and defender or a midfielder and a goal keeper because these are 4 different departments. That’s why I don’t like those titles including top scorer, does he dribble and defend alone, the assist gave him the last pass and he scored, then you reward him for being top scorer”, he said.
