North Korea has become the first and so far only football team to accept Zimbabwe’s offer to host their World Cup training camp before the competition kicks off in South Africa in June.
In an attempt to revive the country’s tourism industry following years of hyperinflation and domestic instability, the government in Harare apparently invited a number of teams to take advantage of its climate and facilities for pre-competition training sessions.
They had originally hoped to attract higher profile teams than North Korea to the country, along with all the attendant tourists that such teams might have brought to attractions such as Victoria Falls. Indeed, so serious was the government about the effort that it apparently sent a ministerial delegation to Brazil, alongside efforts to attract England, Portugal, Nigeria, Ghana, Australia and others, according to UAE-based newspaper The National.
Indeed, Zimbabwe had hoped to earn as much as $200 million from the World Cup being held in its southerly neighbor.
However, at the time of The National’s report, March 29th, Zimbabwe’s Council for Tourism head, Emmanuel Fundira said, “We now know all the 32 teams will set up bases in the host country, South Africa. So while we remain hopeful that some teams might camp here, chances look increasingly limited. That is the small chance we are waiting for, but it isn’t promising. As you might appreciate, fans tend to follow their national teams and if we do not host any teams it is unlikely we will get any visitors.”
In the same report, John Makumbe, a political-science professor at the University of Zimbabwe, noted that the country retains an image as unsafe and unstable, although he also asserted that the perception is slowly changing.
“We are not there yet. People are still edgy. So perhaps we did not have a chance from the start,” Makumbe was quoted as saying.
Regardless, North Korea appears to have undergone a change of heart. “Of the five countries that we are aiming to come to Zimbabwe, only North Korea have confirmed they will stay in Zimbabwe at the end of May before proceeding to South Africa for the World Cup tournament,” Tourism Minister Walter Mzemba announced on Tuesday, revealing that the team will arrive on May 25th.
North Korea and Zimbabwe have a lengthy history of cordial relations. The two consider themselves brothers in the fight against colonialism, and it was to Kim Il Sung that Robert Mugabe turned when he needed his 5th Brigade training back in 1981. It was North Koreans again who built the National Heroes Acre, a revolutionary memorial near Harare that Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi has described as “a prominent symbol of friendship between Zimbabwe and the DPRK.”
Additionally, the relatively lower cost of Zimbabwe might appeal to the North Koreans, who recently caused the cancellation of a friendly match with Nigeria after demanding that their opponents cover the cost of travel to Pyongyang, in contravention of established etiquette.
